Fall away
by bethybaby008
Summary: Having returned to Bristol from Spain, Naomi Campbell is ready to start afresh at Roundveiw College, but her past seems to be following her...
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first story! Really the summary is quite shit but i hope you will enjoy it anyway (:  
The title and general story line is inspired by the song "Fall Away" by the Fray (a great song, give it a listen.)**

**Fall Away**  
Chapter 1

_Tall as I was for my 12 years, I could find no one I recognised over the mass of bodies all pulsing to the music being pumped loudly through the house. Vodka running through my veins I pushed past a bunch of sleazy guys flirting with a few helplessly drunk girls, rolling my eyes as I did so. I was glad it would be a few years before anyone tried flirting with me._

_Pushing past a few more teenagers, sweat gleaming off their bodies from excessive dancing, I managed to remove myself from the crowd and into what appeared to be the kitchen. There, rifling through many bottles of alcoholic drinks was none other than James Cook, my best friend and all round wanker. But I loved him to death._

"_Naomikins!" he shouted over to her by way of a greeting, "Howdy diddly are yah man? Fucking mental party yeah?" He grinned stupidly over at me, not waiting for an answer before plunging himself back into the stacks of drink on the table before pulling out a bottle of clear liquid and turning to me with a cheeky smirk. "Tequila?"_

_Half a bottle of the putrid liquid later and we were both lying on the sofa in the room full of dancing bodies, laughing about anything and everything. Cook shuffled on the sofa a bit, leaning into my shoulder as his hand fished around in his back pocket for something. Eventually he pulled out a small white stick, slightly crumpled and bent in the middle._

"_Shit," he mumbled and set about straightening the thing out before holding it out to me with a sly smile._

_"Spliff?"_

_"What?"_

_I regarded the spliff in his hand hesitantly. I'd drank before, clearly, I'd smoked cigarettes, but drugs was a whole new and daunting prospect of my party-life._

"_I've never..." I trailed off._

_"S'alright babe," he replied, smiling reassuringly, "First time for everything right?"_

_I returned his smile shyly and we headed out the backdoor into the cool night air, stumbling slightly on the step by the door and giggling._

_Cook took the spliff and placed it lightly against his lips. He then pulled a lighter out of his pocket and flicked it, igniting the end of the joint with a red glow. He took a long drag and held it for a few seconds before releasing it and grinning lazily at me._

_"Your go."_

_He passed the joint and I bit my lip nervously, eyeing the lit drug resting effortlessly between my fingers._

_"Inhale, but don't swallow 'else you'll be sick," he added after watching me for a moment._

_I raised the weed to my lips and sucked in lightly, breathing in further until I could feel the smokey substance resting in the chest before releasing it slowly and making sure all traces of smoke was out of my mouth before raising my eyes to his face._

_For a moment his image distorted as if made of jelly before returning to normal and I laughed at the sensation of the spinning world. He giggled at my reaction and I took a larger and longer draw of the spliff and releasing. Half an hour later we were 'well mashed' as Cook put it._

_I was left in the living room again, Cook had disappeared to 'get off with some girl he knew'. A flash of red caught my attention as I glanced about the room for someone to talk to. A small smile graced my lips as I caught sight of two girls I knew from school. They were twins, both in my class yet I hadn't shared a conversation with either of them, or anyone for that matter. I regarded them both through my drooping eyelids; They were both scantily clad, obviously to make them look older so as to ensure they got in to this party, the one in front, Katie, wore a very low cut black top with, what I was assuming was a blue push up bra, underneath to define her cleavage line, and a very short black skirt. Her sister, Emily, wore a similar black top (though not as low cut) with a similar bra only in pink and a short pink skirt (though once again not as short as Katie's)._

_I gave Emily a small smile and a half wave, which she returned shyly as Katie trailed her through to the kitchen by the hand. I caught a small snippet of the words ushering from her mouth as they both past me and in my laid-back and foggy head I pieced the conversation together along the lines of "C'mom Ems, we're going to get proper drunk."_

_Later that night, when I caught up with Cook again, we approached the twins. Cook only seemed interested in Katie's 'mint tits' and trailed me along behind him to get a proper look._

"_Ladies," he exclaimed as he approached, "welcome to Cassa de'la Cookie" and he engulfed them both in his arms. He was pretty wasted by now. I rolled my eyes at him, before throwing Emily a small apologetic smile as she struggled to breathe against his embrace. When he released them, he began talking to Katie, trying to 'get in there' I assumed and I tried to begin an awkward conversation with the shy little Emily. Eventually we fell into an easy conversation about music and I learned that Emily was taking piano lessons and we shared a favourite band: Bon Iver._

_The night went by in a blur of dancing and talking with Emily, even when I excused myself to head out the back for a fag, she followed, indicating towards Katie and Cook who were now playing tonsil hockey with eachother._

_We sat on a small wall outside, the cool air sobering us and easing the tension as conversation died. I offered her a drag of the cigarette I had clutched between my fingers and she accepted, only to choke and cough up the smoke._

_"S-sorry, I've n-never tired be-before," she spluttered, a mixture between laughing and coughing. I laughed to, pulling her closer and rubbing and patting her back to help her ease her coughs. The laughter died and I finally realised our close proximity, her breathe brushing across my face and her lips drew steadily nearer to mine, the sweetness of her tongue as we kissed and the painful yank at the back of my head as Katie trailed me off her..._

Naomi Campbell woke with a slight jump, the bright light of the sun sneaking through a gap in her curtains and attacking her eyes enough to make her squint around her now empty bedroom. Eyes resting on the two large suitcases packed with her clothes and a guitar case carrying her 12-string acoustic and several boxes carrying bits and bobs for her to return to Bristol.

_Bristol._

It sounded strange in her mind, to think that returning home meant returning to _Bristol._ For the past 4 years her home had been in the small villa she'd been living in Valencia, Spain. Absently, she rubbed her and along the back of her scalp. It had hurt for days after Katie had got to it. With a light sigh, she got up from her bed and headed to the small bathroom for a much needed shower.

* * *

Madrid was sweltering and stuffy. The 3 hour journey had been hell in the back of a small cab smelling distinctly of B.O and reminding her painfully of Cook's uncle Keith's pub. _How I'd missed my best friend. _They'd met when we were both 3, Naomi and Cook, at a toddlers group their mums had taken them to. He had pulled her hair and she had smashed his head with the wooden building block she was playing with and they've been mates ever since.

Naomi's reminiscing was cut short, rather rudely, by the stout taxi driver telling her she had arrived at the airport and waiting to be paid, his eyes never leaving her through his mirror. She through a handful of Euros at him, mumbling a quiet "_Gracias" _before escaping the taxi, hauling her luggage out of the bootof the car and onto one of the luggage trolleys found lying around every airport she'd ever been to.

Pushing the heavy trolley through the scorching sun to the shade of the airport, she headed straight for the check-in and began mumbling discreet and fluent Spanish to the clerk over whether the name on her passport was fake or not. She'd picked up the language with ease when she had arrived, having been studying it in school for 2 years before she left Bristol.

Eventually she found herself on the plane, and closed her eyes as the wheels left the ground, carrying her home.

* * *

**Promise to update again ASAP!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, I'm absolutely thrilled! So keep 'em coming they make my day!  
(fcuk love. lets dance: I adore Bon Iver, their songs will feature throughout!)**

* * *

Chapter 2

Bristol was dull as ever. Well, as dull as she ever remembered it.  
Rolling grey clouds obscured the blue sky as a summer breeze floating through the humid air. Unaccustomed to the chillier air, Naomi drew her jumper tighter round herself, folding her arms around her chest as she waited for her mother to answer the bloody door.

Nothing.

She rang the doorbell again, letting out a frustrated groan as she rolled her eyes skywards.

' _No me jodas'. _

Her eyebrow shot upwards in amusement at her own actions. It seemed the Spanish was engraved in her brain, spilling out of her effortlessly.

_Christ_.

She did miss the place, Spain that is; it was bright, friendly, comfy, _warm_ she thought as she shivered helplessly in the breeze. With a final sigh, she heaved her belongings along the side of the house, hiding them behind the fence separating the front garden from the back and set off down the familiar street.

Bristol was like a map engraved in the back of her head that she had forgotten all about until she found herself wandering aimlessly around the vaguely familiar streets. It was refreshing to know that not much had changed; even some familiar faces remained behind shop tills and restaurant windows. Naomi found her way to the park and sat on one of the benches over-looking the city and lost herself deep in thought.

She really didn't mind this place, despite the grief she had given her mother when they had first moved here when she was 9. There was a feeling of comfort around the brick buildings and congested roads which she really hadn't noticed before she'd left. She guessed her reasons for leaving where still unknown. Well, that was a lie;_ I_ do _know why I left_, _I'm just unsure of my reasoning behind it._

Of course it was ok to be scared when you suddenly found yourself being kissed by a girl, a girl that had moved something slightly within you to make room for herself from the moment she had stepped into that party all those years ago. What made Naomi more confused is that that she hadn't objected to it, maybe even _enjoyed_ it.

She shook her head suddenly, riding herself of those thoughts. Of course she was _straight_. She had never thought about girls that way before, not once. Never suddenly saw flashes of red hair as she kissed Spanish blokes in bars and clubs while she was abroad. Never imagined soft lips as her hand dipped below the waistband of her...

_No!_

The whole reason of her leaving her mother to live with friends in Spain was to get away from this in the first place. _For fucks sake, pull yourself together girl, maldito idiota,_ she internally scolded herself as she removed herself from the bench, snapping herself from the thoughts that had plagued her mind since her arrival home. _It's just because you're back where it started, of course it's going to bring back memories,_ she tried reasoning as she wandered back out of the park.

* * *

The sky was beginning to darken as she made her way back towards Gina Campbell's house, clouds shifting slightly to allow brief glances of the lavender sky as the sun ducked behind the horizon. She stopped short of the front door, smiling slightly at the many memories shared lying just beyond it. Suddenly feeling slightly nostalgic, she rapped quickly on the door and threw herself into her mother's arms as soon as it was opened.

She felt her mum wrap her arms around her, after the shock of having some lunatic who looks shockingly similar to you practically jump into your arms had subsided. Naomi melted into the familiar scent of her mother's perfume, the familiarity of her house and distinct aura of her bedroom. It was all very comforting.

"It's good to have you back dear," Gina's voice sounded from the doorway, as she watched her daughter sink into her bed and sigh contentedly.

"I've missed this," Naomi mumbled, by means of a reply, before blushing slightly. She had never realised that she would miss her bed, her friends, her hippie mum as much as she really had. She figured she'd protected herself behind walls, afraid to let emotion show while she was away for fear of making herself look weak.

Gina merely smiled at her, before disappearing back down the stairs. Naomi sighed once more as she sat up, eyes scanning her old bedroom. It certainly portrayed her 12-year-old self; walls covered in posters of bands she never listened to anymore, photo's of friends she hadn't talked to in years sat on shelves and teddy-bears surrounding her bed. Nothing had changed; it was just as she'd left it, just as she'd asked Gina to keep it.

She got up and approached the suitcases and boxes lying on the floor at the foot of her bed. She began unpacking them, sending her clothes in heaps on the floor, bits and pieces of her life in Spain scattered along with them, until the room was a complete tip, but the suitcases were empty. She began stripping her wardrobe of clothes that no-longer fitted, re-hanging the clothes she had brought home with her, replacing most of the photos surrounding her desk and bookshelves with ones she had taken on her travels, apart from ones of her and Cook together. She smiled at the one sitting on her nightstand, running a finger over her best friends face. They had taken it at her 12th birthday party, Cook was grinning up at the camera, quirking an eyebrow cheekily and she was looking at Cook with a look on her face that clearly said 'what the fuck'. She really missed him.

_Note to self: find Cook tomorrow._

She guessed he would be at Uncle Keith's pub. That's where they had spent almost all their childhood together, watching Keith serve his customers and listen to the ridiculous stories he would tell them. He hadn't changed in all the years she'd known James Cook, so she reckoned that would still be what he was up to.

She resumed the 'make-over' as such that she was giving her room, ridding herself of the things she would never use again, replacing them with trinkets of her most recent life. Until there was nothing left for her to replace and her eyes rested on the one thing she treasured most, the one thing that could truly take her mind off anything; the old 12-string acoustic she had inherited from a guy in Spain.

Reaching over, she pulled it from its case, resting it on her legs and she sat on her bed, allowing her fingers to explore the frets and strings before allowing her right hand to slowly strum and pluck while her left hand pressed the metal string into notes and chords, producing a smooth melody to float through the house.

"I didn't know that you played."

She nearly jumped from her skin as she whipped her head round to see Gina standing in the doorway, carrying a tray with scrambled egg and toast on it, plenty of red sauce smothering it; just the way she liked it.

"I, uh, I learnt in Spain," she replied with a shy smile towards her mother, throwing a grateful nod her way and Gina set the tray on her bed beside her.

"I like what you've done with the place," Gina said appraisingly, looking around the room.

"Yeah, I figured I should redecorate."

"It's nice."_Fucking cliché._

None the less, Naomi smiled over at Gina before her mother took off, disappearing around the door once again.

Getting up,she rested the guitar against the wall, devouring her food, and delving into the covers of her bed after removing the clothes she was wearing and replacing them with a large baggy t-shirt.

She found the deep pink sheets comforting, their musky scent reminding her of every time she had hidden beneath them if she was upset or when she had pulled them tightly around her if she was cold. She sighed a final time before drifting into a dreamy state.

* * *

**Thats it for chapter 2 guys, it may be a slow starter but I'm getting into the swing of things here.  
I promise to include Emily in the next chapter! Just needed to get Naomi's background in before the fun starts :P**


	3. Chapter 3

****

Thanks again for the reviews guys! They totally inspire me and put a smile on my face, please keep them coming!

* * *

"Naomikins!"

The use of his nickname for her was the only way Naomi was able to recognise the sturdy figure that was James Cook. _I guess that hasn't changed._ He was tall, quite built; skinny enough but muscle tone was evident though his polo shirt, and his booming voice resounded all over the small pub belonging to his uncle, Keith.

"Long time no see, babe, where the fuck have you been?" he chuckled, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. _I guess that hasn't changed either_, she thought as a small smile played across her lips. She wondered briefly how he had managed to recognise her, _surely I've changed a bit. _His voice was deep and she repressed a giggle at the thought that she had missed the embarrassing stage of his voice breaking. A sudden thought occurred to her, and her smile changed to a smirk as she shoved against her best friend's shoulders, contorting her features into a disgusted scowl as he looked down at her, shocked.

"_¿Qué demonios estás haciendo?"_

She glared at him as best she could, struggling to keep a straight face at his stricken expression.

"_¿Es usted un culo o algo así?"_

He looked blank.

"_¿No?"_

A hint of realisation crossed his face when he vaguely recognised the Spanish the girl before him was using. Hesitantly he replied.

"_S-sí...?"_

Naomi laughed openly at the confusion evident on her friends face.

"You do know you just called yourself as ass, James, yeah?"

His face split into a smile. Naomi was the only person ever to call him James.

"You little bitch, Naomi, you know I'll get you back for this."

The rest of the day was spent sitting by Keith's bar, drinking the occasional beer, though not getting too drunk, and chatting pleasantly with each other. _After all,_ Naomi thought, _4 years is a lot to catch up on._

"_Mi mejor amigo!"_ Naomi exclaimed, raising her pint into the air and proceeding to slosh half of it down her arm. The clock ticked towards half ten at night and the 'not getting too drunk' had resulted in them become reasonably tipsy.

"Mi meh-what?" repeated Cook, clearly baffled.

"My best friend," slurred Naomi, taking a substantial gulp from her glass and throwing an arm around Cook's shoulders.

* * *

The cool night air sobered them considerably as they walked home, swaying every now and again or tripping on the slightly uneven ground. They walked slowly, savouring each other's company and forming non-drunken conversation as the alcohol found its way out of their blood stream.

"Tattoo's then, eh?" Naomi enquired, noticing the words _'Jack the Lad'_ inscribed on her friend's shoulder, poking out from the sleeve of his polo shirt.

"Yeah, and I've got this one 'ere," he continued to pull the hem of his shirt up, revealing a large cross tattooed across the side of his chest and stomach.

"Must've hurt like a bitch."

"I've got another one, hurt a hell of a lot more," he grinned, undoing his belt and beginning to push is trousers down.

Naomi caught grasp of what he was implying by the cheeky grin on his face and walked briskly onwards with a muttered, "I'll take your word for it."

Cook's laughter barked through the stillness of the night, making Naomi cringe slightly at how loud it truly sounded in the quiet streets, against her slightly aching head.

"Nah, I'm just kidding man," Cook laughed, catching up with her, "I wouldn't show you my willy like, being almost like a sister yeah. Unless you want to of course, in which case I say we get down and dirty right here ya'no? Willy waggle, make each ova' feel alright."

Naomi almost dry retched, before turning to him, face expressionless, tone serious.

"You couldn't make me feel alright if you stapled your tongue to my clit and stood on a cement mixer, _James_."

Another loud laugh from Cook erupted into the empty night.

"Ah, Naomikins, you'll never change will you?"

"Neither will you, Cook."

Cooks laugh boomed behind her for the rest of the walk.

* * *

If her head had hurt the morning after her day with Cook, it was exploding now. Sunlight streamed through her window and across her face, making her groan and roll over, allowing the light to bathe her back and neck in its warm glow. It was actually quite pleasant for a while, until Gina barged in, pulling the curtains back fully and adorning the room in unwanted light.

"_¡Jesucristo!"_ she exclaimed as her head pulsed and her eyes refused to adapt to the sudden brightness.

"Jesus Christ, mum!"

"I thought you'd want to be out today," replied Gina matter-of-factly, "It's such a lovely day, might remind you of Spain."

_Damn that woman and her not-so-good intentions,_ Naomi mumbled silently. She knew Gina had been looking an excuse to get her up and out of bed for the last few days, where she had taken refuge since her night with her best friend. Truth was that, now she had caught up with Cook and changed her bedroom around, there was nothing really for her to do around Bristol.

She groaned once again as she felt her duvet being ripped from her clutch as she attempted to duck beneath it, hiding from the day once again.

"Not today," said Gina, dumping the duvet on the floor at the foot of the bed, "You've been lying there all week, get up!"

_Oh for fucks sake,_ she thought as she pushed herself out of her and down the hall towards the bathroom for a much needed shower.

The shower had worked wonders in waking her up, and a piping mug of tea was easing her headache. Still she couldn't help but sigh and she massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers.

"Not enough fresh air does that, you know."

_Oh God._

Gina stood by the doorway, observing her daughter as she silently sipped sugary tea.

Naomi sat back in her seat, regarding her mother with a soft frown.

"There isn't much around here for me to do," she stated.

"Go into town! Make friends! God knows you could do with some!"

Naomi rolled her eyes, but allowed her mother to continue.

"Go shopping, get school supplies, you start college in a few weeks."

_Christ._ College had been the last thing on her mind when she returned home, it was something she could do without, and something she was rather dreading.

Of course she had finished school in Spain, sat her exams, got her grades. But she had hoped that would be the last of her academic years. Instead, Gina had applied for her to go to Roundveiw College, in the centre of Bristol, claiming a few A's in GCSE would get her nowhere and A-levels were requires these days. Naomi had wanted to argue that you didn't need A-levels to play music, a dream she'd had whilst playing in Spain.

She'd had two friends there see, Kevin and David. Both had lived in England before as well, one from London, the other from Liverpool. Both played instruments, one drums the other piano. They had been young at the time but they had promised each other that they would form a band and become famous musicians. It was a silly childhood dream, but one that had implanted itself in Naomi's skull ever since.

Of course she wouldn't tell Gina this, for fear of humiliation. _If it was to be, it would be, _she told herself. Despite her uneasiness, she found herself wandering up stairs, heading for her guitar.

* * *

Emily Fitch rubbed her eyes. Sunlight streamed through a gap in her curtains, showering her face in light and warmth. She smiled. It was the first sunny day they'd had in Bristol in weeks._ And Jesus, I'm going to make something of it, _she vowed, dragging herself out of bed at towards the shower.

Luckily Katie was still asleep, and that had brought two advantages whilst she showered;  
1, the bathroom wasn't a mess,  
2, the water cascading down on her was actually warm.  
Of course, being a twin _had_ to come with bonuses. It was just that being a twin with _Katie_ seemed to have more cons than pros. Katie was more attractive, (though Emily sometimes found that hard to believe seeing as they were identical, however she would never admit this) Katie got more boyfriends, (though that was inevitable, Emily was gay. Wouldn't quite admit this to herself either) Katie was more popular, more confident and as a result Emily found herself living in the comfort of her sisters shadow. She didn't mind too much, no one bitched about her like they did Katie, no one judged her like they did Katie, sometimes though, she just felt like she wanted to _escape_ it all. Live in her own light, and not one artificially generated by her sister.

Being the good twin, she made sure to tidy the bathroom and set the water heater on for Katie when she was finished with the shower. Heading downstairs, she made sure to punch James on her was past him for peeping through the lock on the bathroom door as she showered, kissed her father on the cheek by means of a '_good morning_' and nodding her head towards her homophobic mum.

Tension was evident between Emily and Jenna Fitch. The woman seemed unable to, or simply out-right refused, to come to terms with the fact that Emily could possibly be gay, wouldn't even consider her bi. Nope, she had to be straight. _Just like Katie_, Emily thought bitterly, hearing her twins footsteps pad toward the bathroom above her. Silently she poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat at the table consuming a large portion of their 'cosy' kitchen and ate, not giving Jenna the time of day. She would never forgive her, _never._

Gulping down a glass of orange juice and replacing the carton to the fridge she ignored Katie's shouts of "Where are you going, bitch?" from the top of the stairs, trailing her fingers along the keys of the piano in her front room as she headed towards the front door, finally replying to Katie's screams with a simple "Out," before slamming the front door shut behind her.

* * *

_Bristol's alright_, Naomi thought, stopping in the middle of the bustling high street and removing her guitar from its bag on her back. It seemed everyone was making the most of the good weather; busy office workers pushing past the crowds on their phones and clutching cups of coffee, teenagers littering the corners and sitting in groups on walls, skateboarders snaking between pedestrians and cars hurtling down the congested roads.

She pulled the strap of her guitar over her shoulder, adjusting the length until the wooden instrument sat perfectly across her torso, at the right height for her to play, took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Emily made her way through the busy streets of the city, searching for anyone she knew or anything for her to do to pass time. Grabbing a book from her bag, she decided to plant herself at a table outside her favourite coffee shop, _nothing beats a good starbucks_, and started to read. Ok, so _book_ wasn't quite the right term for what she was reading, more like _booklet_ informing her about the new college she would be attending in little over 2 weeks.

Immersed as she was, something pulled her attention away from the text and hilarious photos of _Doug_ getting 'down with the students'. Something melodic and not unpleasant at all. One of her favourite songs actually. She smiled along with the lyrics.

"_This is pouring rain, this is paralyzed."_

She hastily returned the booklet to her bag, grabbing her caramel hot chocolate and pushing her chair gently back under the table.

Shoving her way through the lively streets, she scanned the place with her eyes, searching for the source of the tune.

"_When you're money's gone, and you're drunk as hell."_

It was a sweet voice, lovely. Pleasant to the ear. Unusual, yes, but not bad. It was simply different from the singers you would hear on the radio. Finally her eyes rested on a tall girl with a guitar, blonde hair falling over her face as she sang out to the streets.

"_On your back with your racks and the the stacks as your load."  
"In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load."_

Emily smiled. It was after all, her favourite song of all time. She decided to stay and watch the singer. But not wanting to look like a creepy stalker, she placed herself on a low wall on the other side of the street, the dense crowd separating her from the blonde, careful to keep her in sight as the crowd bustled on.

* * *

Naomi had never intended herself to be a singer. But as the guitar's harmonious notes continued to pour into her ears, clearing her mind and easing her nerves, she couldn't help but sing along. She wasn't a _bad_ singer. She'd just never thought she was that great either. _I guess you have issues with self-confidence Naomi_, she thought to herself, watching in amazement as people threw money into the empty guitar case in front of her. Some people stopped in front of her, taking a few minutes out of their eventful day just to listen to her. She felt honoured, in a strange way.

It wasn't until the chords of her favourite song were blasting from her instrument and lyrics were spilling out of her mouth from somewhere that one person in particular caught her eye. She didn't falter, she made sure she didn't falter, comforted by the fact that her hair was covering her face in case that was who she thought it was. _After all these years._

However, as she took a moment to take in the sight of the red-headed girl across the road from her she realised that it might not be Emily, _it couldn't be_. This girl was slightly taller than she ever remembered Emily, though considering the last time she saw Emily they were 12 years old she quickly dismissed this theory, this girl's red hair was bright, almost the same colour as a strawberry, _and probably smelling the same...what? C'mon Naomi, snap out of it._ She was straight. _Straight._ With that thought clear in her head she continued to observe the girl.

Not overly tall, but slim enough to make her seem tall for her weight. Bright red, flowing hair reaching below her shoulder blades. Pale face, clear and perfect skin. Denim shorts covering the top of her toned thighs, grey vest top showing just the right amount of cleavage that wasn't being covered by the blue jacket she was wearing...

Naomi physically shook the thoughts from her head. There was no denying that the girl was no unattractive, _but you shouldn't be thinking like that. Focus on your playing, for God's sake!_ Although secretly she was amazed she had managed to keep the music going with her mind so far away from the movement of her fingers over the strings.

* * *

Emily kept her eyes glued to the induction booklet. She was almost certain the blonde across the street was checking her out. _She was looking at you, loser, merely observing._ Her inner thoughts scolded herself. Maybe she'd been caught on, stalking an attractive singer. The game was up. But when she dragged her eyes from the booklet she found the blondes head dipped in concentration, fingers sliding effortlessly over the strings, lip bit between teeth when she wasn't singing her beautiful voice.

_You know where you want those fingers to be sliding effortlessly._

She cringed at her own thoughts.

Returning her full attention back to the writing in the book, she couldn't help but sneak glances every so often at the blonde. _Obviously your _full attention _is not on the book, Emily._

God, she hated her inner monologue sometimes.

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**Thoughts please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Big thank you for the reviews! Keep them coming guys they help so much!**

**Just to clarify, I'm trying to keep the Emily/Naomi relationship on the D.L. It was been 4 years since they've last seen each other and people do change a lot at this age in a small period of time so I guess they won't recognise each other; I wouldn't anyway, but my memory's a bit shit...**

* * *

Chapter 4

Naomi had been playing in the city for the past week and a half. Much to her surprise she seemed quite popular with the people, if the amount of money she was raking in was anything to go by. Not that she was looking for people to throw their change into her guitar case laid by her feet, but she appreciated their appreciation for her and didn't complain.

She had come to more or less the same spot every time, but by the end of each week found herself edging closer and closer to the small Starbucks coffee shop at the end of the road. _Totally unconsciously, _she reminded herself, _got nothing to do with 'Red-headed Coffee Girl'._

Yes, she had named her.

She hadn't meant to, but she had seen the girl every day she played, usually sat across the road from her clutching a Starbucks cup and sometimes immersed in a book. Naomi liked to think she had a fan, but couldn't help but wonder whether it was just a coincidence.

_Christ, Naomi, wise up you silly girl._

Sometimes her mind messed with her. Picturing their relationship as something from a movie; they'd meet by chance-Naomi walking into her and spilling her coffee, Naomi offering to buy her a new coffee (and probably a new top), they would get talking, eventually fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

_She's a girl Naomi, you are _straight._ You don't fall in love with girls._

That didn't stop her over active imagination though.

* * *

Emily sighed heavily. Her eyes wandering away from the book she was reading, whilst perched on a low wall, to _'Blonde Busker'_ across the street. There was something oddly familiar about the girl, although she was sure they'd ever met. _I'd remember someone like that. _She was almost certain. Almost.

Somewhere in her mind though, she knew she'd met her before. _Knew it._ But couldn't place the blonde at all. It niggled at the back of her brain, annoying her constantly. _Why can't I place that face?_

It was undoubtedly a lost cause. She was certainly going mad.

In the same part of her mind her imagination ran away with her, bringing the blonde with it. On many occasions she'd pictured herself and the singer running away together, finding themselves in compromising positions and falling heavily for each other. _Definitely going mad._

She'd never even met the girl, not once talked to her let alone call her a friend. And here she was fantasizing about the two of them eloping together. _Snap out of it woman._

She returned her full attention to the book on her lap, finding herself reading the same line twice. None of the words were processing in her mind. She knew her brain was sat at the other side of the road, and the blonde's feet no doubt, like a pathetic little puppy looking for attention.

She thought about approaching the girl, but figured any conversation would be futile without her thinking straight.

"_Hi, nice music. I've just come over to pick up my brain, if you don't mind. It just can't stay away from you."_

What a pleasant conversation that would turn out to be.

* * *

Naomi sat at her kitchen table. It was getting late and she was tired and wanting nothing more that to climb the stairs and sink into bed. But Cook was also sat at her kitchen table, and her exhausted brain could think of no excuses to rid him.

_Cook, I'm tired. Please fuck off._

Nah, he wouldn't buy that. He wouldn't leave.

Instead, she used her voice more productively and asked a question that had plagued her mind since they had reunited.

"How did you know it was me when I was at Keith's?"

Cook raised his eyes to her.

"Because I'm your best friend babe. I know these things."

She scowled at him. That wasn't the answer she wanted.

Cook sighed with a roll of his eyes and smirking slightly. _I must be starting to rub off on him._

"Well Naomikins, it's not like you look the same yeah? 'Cause now you have these proper mint tits that I would have noticed before like, and you're taller and you've cut your hair. You just look different, older. Not like I remembered you, you know?"

Naomi smiled slightly, unsure why because her best friend had just called her tits _'mint'_. She allowed him to continue anyway.

"But you haven't changed like on the inside have you? No, not at all yeah."

"But I hadn't said a word Cook."

"It's your eyes, darlin'. They give everything away."

Naomi was quite shocked. This was deep shit for Cook to be talking. She knew he wasn't as shallow as he let on but she'd never experienced him being so open.

"Speaking of eyes babe, they say you're absolutely shattered so I'm gonna go here, let you rest your wee head ok?"

I smiled at him appreciatively as he stood and walked from the kitchen.

"Oh, and promise me one thing babe," he called from the hall. He popped his head around the doorframe before he answered, all happiness drained from his eyes, replaced with a sombre expression.

"Don't leave me again."

And with that he was gone. Naomi instantly felt guilty.

She had been so wound up in her troubled mind, desperate to escape that she hadn't given much thought to how her sudden departure would affect her best friend. She pictured him calling at her door, only to be told by Gina how Naomi had left, and walking away deflated. She'd totally immersed herself whilst she was in Spain. Busying her mind to ensure she didn't think of what she'd left behind, to ensure she didn't miss home.

She stopped outside the bathroom on her way to her bed, stepping inside and brushing her teeth. Taking a moment afterwards to look at her reflection, she studied her own face in the mirror, concentrating on her eyes. She wasn't sure how they said so much about her. Now, for example, they just looked tired; heavy lidded and dull. The only thing special she'd ever thought about her eyes was that they were a brighter, richer blue than anyone else's.

Dismissing herself, she exited the bathroom and collapsed into a slightly uneasy sleep.

* * *

"Naomi."

"_Naomi."_

"NAOMI!"

She jumped.

And fell out of bed.

"_Madre infierno sangriento!"_

Naomi picked herself up from the hard wooden floor of her bedroom, tenderly rubbing her ass where most of her weight had landed. She glared at Gina, who wore an amused expression.

"Bloody hell mum! That fucking hurt."

"Sorry dear, but you need to get up. Can't be late for college."

_Bollacks._

She had almost forgotten about that. She was certain that, if for the past few days her mum _hadn't _nagged her about buying new books and pens to start that term, she would have forgotten about college completely.

She trudged out of her room, only then noticing the early morning light and just how tired she actually was. A welcome shower and mug of sugary tea helped though. With a determined attitude, she kissed her mum on the cheek before heading out the door. She was a grade 'A' student, and though her attendance to Roundveiw was indeed unexpected, she was hell-bent on now allowing her grades to suffer.

_Nerd, _resounded through her brain.

* * *

Some infernal noise was trying to pull her from her dreaming state.

It took a grumbling Katie for her to realise that that noise was actually an alarm clock, waking them bright and early in order to start a new year of education. _Fucking joy._

As Emily's eyes still refused to open, she was aware of the movement of her sister, hearing the springs of Katie's mattress creak and she groggily pulled herself from the comfort of her bed and mumbling, "Get up, bitch," in a voice still thick with sleep.

Thankful that she had showered the night before, Emily trailed her sleepy form from bed, searching through her wardrobe briefly, before pulling out a top, shirt, jacket and tights and laying the outfit on her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she descended the stairs heading for the kitchen or cereal and orange juice.

Feeling slightly more awake, she returned to her shared room and felt her heart sink as Katie stood, twirling in front of the mirror wearing the top Emily had planned to wear.

"Katie, that's my top!"

"Ems, it's _our_ top. Anyway, it looks better on me."

_Vain bitch,_ Emily grumbled as she hunted through the piles of clothes in their drawers looking for a top to match the rest of her outfit. Eventually, she found a chequered red, grey and white shirt. Slipping it on, she buttoned it up to just above her cleavage, flashing enough skin not to disappoint Katie whilst not looking like the total slag her sister did. She skirt she wore reached her mid-thigh, covered in black tights. She slipped red pumps on her feet and grabbed the grey jacket from her bed and pulling it on as she sat in front of the mirror.

She didn't put much make-up on, just enough to make her look...well, normal. Too much and she'd look like a hooker, too little and she'd look like a make-up virgin, and neither of those settled well with her. She was determined to break away from Katie, and soon.

"Hurry up Emily!" Katie barked from the bottom of the stairs. "We have to walk and if we don't leave now we'll be late!"

_Fucking hell._

"I thought Danny was giving us a lift," she yelled back.

"Eh, no. I ditched his ass last week. We're starting college Ems, you know what that means."

Emily could tell where this was going. Katie took her silence as an answer.

"Plenty of boys, you freak. You better find some of them hot!"

And with that she heard the front door slam as Katie left without her. She silently called Katie every foul name she could think of as she grabbed her bag and followed her out.

* * *

She stood outside the gates to the College grounds, eyes warily scanning over each student on the other side. Some sat in readily formed groups, waiting to judge her, induct her into their ways. Naomi's previous experiences with the British education programme weren't that well received. Taking a last deep, bracing breath she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, held her head high and stepped into the grounds.

Roundview was actually _quite nice._ There were benched littered outside the College building, which seemed new and rather clean, open space surrounding the area and a large green to her left, separating this school from another across the way filled with a bunch on snobby looking girls in a horrible looking uniform.

Naomi continued walking towards the double doors at the entrance to the school. Students were scattered everywhere, lining the paths and gathering outside the complex, undoubtedly waiting for friends and familiar faces. Naomi knew only once face around here was going to be familiar to her and as if on cue, her mobile vibrated in her pocket.

**Mint looking college, plenty of fit birds around, meet me on the green in 5.-Ck.**

Of course the first thing Cook would notice would be the number of girls around. Laughing quietly at the nature of her friend, she began making her way through the bustling crowds of students towards the large square of grass in the distance.

"Alright babe?" Cook called. He was lying on the grass, on his side, pushed up on one elbow. Between his lips was perched a lit fag and he drew a lazy drag from it as she sat beside him. He offered her that packet and she took one without hesitation, lighting it up with a flick of his lighter and allowing the nicotine to calm the nerves she knew were rising in her stomach.

"Thanks," she muttered after exhaling and sighing deeply in relief.

"Know what I say we do today?" asked Cook, looking over at her with a small smile on his lips, "Fuck college, let's go party!"

"Fun as it sounds Cook, maybe on a day that _isn't _our first day yeah? Unlike you, I'm an all 'A' student," she replied giving him a cheeky wink.

He laughed.

"Well I'm no fucking Einstein but as least I can have a laugh."

"And you will Cook, and you will..."

They sat in companionable silence until they noticed the mass of students slowly disappearing into the college, before rising and following suit.

* * *

Emily followed Katie through the College gates. Well, not so much _followed_ as _was dragged along behind her._ Pissed as she was that despite her vow to be more like herself and less like her twin, she couldn't help but watch as Katie flaunted past the groups of students gathered on benches and standing by doors, controlling the attention of everyone surrounding her. Emily wondered how she managed to pull it off without looking like an absolute idiot.

Never the less, she followed Katie through the crowds, retching slightly as groups of greasy guys eyed her up, knowing full well that they 'loved the whole twin thing' as Katie constantly reminded her whenever they went to parties and clubs. She pushed open the set of double doors beneath a large sign reading 'Welcome to Roundview College', assuming this was the main entrance and heading towards what could only be described as a gym hall.

There was a large set of bleachers that she followed Katie onto, who took a seat at the very top, undoubtedly so that everyone could see _her_ and she could see _everyone_. The hall filled up quite quickly. A strange bouncy blonde with her hair in pigtails sat at the front beside a beautiful brunette who was surrounded by an air of mystery. A tall, good looking boy with shaggy dark hair sat a few rows in front of them, to which Katie's eyes became constantly glued, accompanied by a shorter curly-haired boy with braces who was talking animatedly with a dark-skinned boy with a thick French accent.

The buzz of conversation died as a loud voice resounded from speakers on the walls.

"_Welcome to Roundview College, a meeting place for young people."_

This caused a series of giggles to erupt from the students at the total cheesiness of the small speech given by the voice. Even Emily found herself laughing at it. Four teachers entered through a set of doors at the far end of the hall; a balding, over-enthusiastic looking man carrying a megaphone, a tall pointy-faced woman who looked quite strict, a small nervous blonde woman carrying a clipboard, and a slightly stout man with a stubbly beard who looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else.

Emily zoned out as they began to talk them through the college expectations, the 'do's and don'ts' and were about to begin calling the class lists when the doors they had entered through earlier and too breathless figures stumbled through, giggling uncontrollably.

"S-sorry...got...got lost," a sandy haired boy spluttered, bent over with his hands on his upper legs, trying to regain control of his breathing. Another fleet of giggles erupted between the pair. Emily was sure his accomplice was female, from the way her laughter danced through her ears, but she was short and couldn't see her face over the crowd.

The pointy-faced woman, Harriet, the College Director, scowled at the pair before telling them sharply to "Take a seat," before continuing to ramble on about how punctuality and good behaviour were essential to success at school, all the while glaring at the duo.

Glancing up, she realised the sandy-haired boys friend was none other than _'Blonde Busker' _from the high street. Emily was about to send her a small smile when the girl looked up and caught her staring, but she seemed to freeze up as she gazed into azure eyes. She definitely knew them from somewhere, she was absolutely certain she had gazed into eyes as blue before.

The moment lasted only a few seconds before the blonde lowered her eyes back to her friend, who had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her down to sit beside him. Emily was shocked at how uncomfortable she became when he didn't remove it.

"_Emily!"_

She shook herself from her thoughts as Katie's hushed voice firmly sounded in her ear, along with an elbow to her ribs.

"What?"

"They've just called our names; we have to go to class! Waken up you dozy cow!"

Sighing, she followed Katie out through the crowd leaving a large gap between them so people could see that just because they were twins didn't mean they were joined at the hip.

* * *

Naomi was lost in her head again. She knew there was something strange about those deep brown eyes that she couldn't place. She wished she had Cooks ability to read eyes at this exact moment. She was only shaken from her thoughts when _'Red-headed Coffee Girl' _disappeared out the door of the hall and Cook nudged her.

"Waken up Naomi man, they've called our names yeah. We're in the same class like, fucking ace yeah?"

Naomi forced a smile and followed him out of the emptying gym, heading down bright corridors and up stairs until they were both standing outside a classroom with '12B' emblazoned on it in silver lettering.

"This is it then," Cook said before flinging the door open with a flourish and swaggering inside.

Most of the class was already seated, searching through bags and arranging books and pens on desks. Naomi's eyes flashed to a glint of red in the corner of her eye and sure enough there sat _'Red-headed Coffee Girl', _head buried in a book. The person sat next to her was bent under the desk, rifling through a 'far-too-fancy-for-school' bag. Naomi didn't allow her eyes to linger for too long, gazing around at the rest of the rooms occupants.

There was a tall, skinny boy with dark shaggy hair, _attractive_, with a shorter curly-haired boy sat beside him. An eccentric-looking blonde with pig-tails, a mysterious-looking brunette, a dark skinned boy with a gentle face...

Her observations were cut short by the slamming of the door, making her jump slightly, as an aggravated-looking man with a thick Irish accent strode down the classroom and taking a seat at the front, calling for them all to sit down.

She took a seat beside Cook, unfortunately at the table next to the red-head. Naomi had to prevent her eyes wandering over to her as _'Kieran'_, their form teacher, started rambling about their timetables and expectations. Hard and she tried, she couldn't stop her eyes wandering to the next table.

She didn't know what book the red-head was reading, the lines were unfamiliar but she watched quietly as her fingers traced along the words as they were read, keeping a steady pace. She was drawn from her silent perving but a small nudge from Cook.

Kieran had begun calling the role, checking they'd all made it to the right class.

"Naomi Campbell?"

Ignoring the small amount of giggles resounding through the classroom, glaring at the first person she saw with a smirk on their face and replying with a nonchalant "_here_" she noticed that the red-head's fingers had froze as she read and she lowered herself in her chair.

"Katie Fitch?"

"Here."

_Shit._

"Emily Fitch?"

"Here."

_Fuck. My. Life._

* * *

**That's it for chapter 4. Things will hopefully develop more quickly from here!**

**Thoughts please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews are a big help guys, so thanks for them! I really enjoy reading them and learning from your suggestions, so I appreciate it I really do.**

**Also, sorry about the delay on this chapter, I've been away partying and have come home strangely inspired by this bitch of a hangover I have...**

**Onwards and upwards!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Its funny how two 5-letter words could complete shatter the small world Naomi Campbell had taken the last four years to build around her in a matter of seconds.

The tension between the two was suddenly more obvious than if someone had built a brick wall between them. _I think I'd prefer the brick wall_, Naomi thought, knowing it meant she wouldn't have to see the red-head and her annoying twin shooting daggers from her eyes at her as if she had a large sign proclaiming _'GAY'_ plastered across her head.

"Cook," Naomi mumbled out of the corner of her mouth, "Cook!"

His head snapped round to look at her, confusion etched on his face. She continued mumbling through gritted teeth.

"Put your arm around me."

Cook contemplated for a moment, before hesitantly wrapping a firm arm around her waist and squeezing her lightly. The rest of the class passed in one large, awkward, tension filled silence. It was as if the whole class was suddenly aware of Naomi and Emily's situation as the tension radiated off them in thick waves.

_Fucking hell,_ Naomi thought as she watched the clock tick by agonisingly slowly.

Finally when the bell went she was up and out of the room, trailing Cook along by the hand behind her, before Emily had even closed her book.

* * *

There was one word for this situation.

_Awkward._

Emily spent the whole class with her eyes glued to her book, taking in none of the text as her thoughts soared to memories she had repressed for years.

Memories of her first kiss with Naomi.

_Suddenly, and without warning, soft lips were dragged away from mine, leaving me shell shocked as the scene unfolded. Katie had Naomi by the hair, shouting loudly at her. The odd word such as 'dyke' and 'lezzer' infiltrated my blank mind. I cringed as Katie slapped Naomi hard across the face, and suddenly I found my voice jumping up and hauling Katie of the blonde._

"_Katie! What the hell are you doing?"_

"_Shut up, Emily. We're going home."_

Memories of the first time she had tried to come out to Katie.

_I was frustrated._

"_For fucks sakes Katie! I'm gay ok?"_

"_Don't be fucking stupid, Emily, you've never even kissed a girl."_

_I was shocked._

"_Katie, do you actually remember what you did to Naomi last night?"_

"_Oh, so you know the sluts name? Anyway, she kissed you, so it doesn't count. You're NOT gay."_

Memories of the time she had tried to come out to her mum.

_I raised a spoonful of the strange red liquid to eye level, tipping the spoon and allowing it to fall back into the bowl. Mum was droning on about how perfect Katie was, and comparing the bitch to me. I still wasn't talking to her after the outcome of last weeks party._

"_And Katie's got lots of friends, Emily, you're far too shy."_

_I rolled my eyes._

"_And Katie gets on well with boys, don't you Katie love?"_

_I'd had enough._

"_Christ mum, maybe I don't want lots of friends and to chase boys! I don't like boys, they don't appeal to me at all! Maybe I like girls instead!"_

_I'd stormed away from the table that night. Jenna had never treated me the same since. I would never forgive her._

She occasionally heard Katie mutter profanities under her breath, to which she would swiftly elbow her in the ribs. Apart from that nothing drew her from her musings until the bell sounded and the classroom emptied.

Naomi, Emily noticed, was the first to leave.

* * *

Naomi didn't stop until her and Cook were settled once again on the green. She hastily removed a fag from its packet and sighed deeply as its calming effect soothed her.

"What's going on Naomi?"

She couldn't tell him, it was too hard. How could she even begin to explain how Emily had let her take the blame for everything? Sat back and watched her endure the torment of Katie mouthing off to her everyday to the point where she'd had to flee the country?

"Look Naomi, you can use me all you want to ease the tension between you and Little Red in their yeah, but I'm requesting to know why. Is that too much to ask of a friend?"

_Fuck you James._ She would be forever in awe of how well he knew her.

Lighting another fag, she braced herself and told him everything.

And he listened.

And listened.

And listened. Occasionally bopping his head along with her and offering comfort and anger and sympathy and every emotion she wanted him to.

And when they were finished they returned to college to face the past that had somehow wiggled its way into their future, his hand squeezing hers in comfort all the way.

* * *

Emily stared down at the chips piled on her plate.

Naomi had disappeared off after form class and hadn't shown for the start of lunch. Not that she was worried. She had no reason to let her mind wander and worry over _Naomi Campbell._ She wasn't worries this was all her fault. _She wasn't._

She continued to push the chips around her plate, watching as Katie's hand snaked onto her plate and nicked a few, dipping them in the red sauce at the edge of her plate and scoffing them. She had no appetite now.

Her head shot up as the canteen's door banged open, as it had this morning in the gym, and once again Naomi and the fair-haired boy sauntered through, _Cook,_ Emily thought his name was. Emily's heart soared with relief at the thought that Naomi hadn't left yet another school because of her, only to sink a little further when she saw the couple's clasped hands.

"They are _not_ sitting over her," Katie muttered, eyeing the pair dangerously, voice low. Emily froze up as they drew nearer to their table. She glanced down to the far end of the table and of course there were two empty seats. _Oh fucking brilliant,_ she thought bitterly.

"Alright, I'm Cook," Cook said as he popped himself down on one of the empty spaces and addressing the dark-haired boy next to him.

"Freddie," he replied.

Cook turned his attention to the mysterious brunette sitting opposite Freddie.

"Don't worry beautiful, enough Cookie for you too," he waggled his eyebrows. Emily retched. Naomi could do better than_ that._

"James," Naomi's voice warned, though laced with amusement.

"Don't worry, you're the only girl for me cupcake," he replied with a laugh.

Naomi only rolled her eyes.

Emily returned her attention to her chips. They were good together. Comfortable with each other. Emily hated it. Hated that she hated it.

There and then, she made a vow to stay out of Naomi's way for good. _She clearly doesn't even realise your here, loser. Let her live in her own loved up bubble._

That vow would have remained unbroken if it wasn't for Katie and her big ego.

"Right, like, what the fuck are you sitting here for? 'Cause like, clearly you're not wanted yeah? So piss off."

"Fuck sakes Katie," Emily mumbled quietly, aware that the whole table was watching the drama unfold.

"Do us all a favour and shut the fuck up Katie. I'll sit wherever I fucking please."

"Oh fuck off you great big dyke, no one wants you around in case you try jump them like you did my sister."

_That's crossed the line._

Emily watched in silent horror as Naomi slammed her palms off the table as she stood, clearly outrages at Katie's last statement. Katie followed suit with an equally impressive slamming of palms on table tops.

"If I'm such a dyke Katie why don't you ask your sister who really kissed who!"

"Emily didn't kiss you, that's not true. She told me that _wasn't _true." Katie's eyes shot to Emily briefly, desperation evident in them for all of a moment before being replaced with the thunderous look she was shooting Naomi.

"She told me everything you fat lezzer, how you tried to jump her on that wall and get your way into her knickers just 'cause you fancied it..."

Emily wanted to shut Katie up. It wasn't true, she'd never said anything on the subject, she'd never even denied kissing Naomi first so she had no idea where Katie was pulling these tales from but she couldn't even manage to stop Katie vomiting these hurtful lies to the blonde.

Naomi walked slowly around the table, tears clearly welling up in her eyes as she faced Emily for the first time since that fateful night. She looked broken, insulted and angry. Katie continued to ramble on.

"So you can fuck off now, dyke, and try your creepy shit out on some other poor girl yeah, 'cause if you so much as look at her I will find you."

Emily could only watch in horror at what Naomi did next.

* * *

_SMACK!_

Katie was on the floor clutching the side of her face and Naomi's hand stung like a bitch but she threw one final hateful glare at the floored twin adding a "That's for almost trailing my hair out four years ago, bitch, try find me now," and stormed out of the canteen.

She knew Emily had watched her leave; shock horror and anguish splashed across her perfect face. _Fuck sakes Naomi, you just floored her twin sister. SO not the time for that._ She shook herself and continued out across the green, finally allowing the tears to start leaking from her eyes when she was a safe distance from the premises.

She heard padding footsteps behind her until out of her per vision she was Cook jogging up to her.

"Fuck sake, Blondie! When did you learn to throw swings like that?" He was laughing and panting slightly from chasing her, ecstatic that violence had unfolded on his first day of college and it was evident in his voice.

Naomi felt a single tear roll from her cheek as she turned to him. His smile faded instantly.

"I can't deal with her, Cook, I can't. Not again. Not ever."

Her own voice was thick and strangled from the tears flowing freely down her face. She felt Cook pull her into him and she heaved great sobs into his chest, winding her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. All the while repeating quietly "I can't, I can't."

"Shh Blondie," Cook soothed her, rubbing his hands up her back as he spoke. "If you want I'll walk back up there and sort her out, yeah?"

Naomi pulled back, sniffing back sobs and tears.

"I can't sort this out, Cook. This is the fucking unsortable."

"We need to get you a fella then," he replied simply.

Naomi took that split second to note that the only 'fella' she'd ever try this on was him, pulled him down to her and mashed their lips together.

* * *

**And with that I'm going to leave you all to go on holiday :D**

**I'll only be a week and hopefully get the time to think over and note more of this storyline and see where it takes me.**

**Reviews would be lovely to come home to! (;**


	6. Chapter 6

**Eww, sorry about the long delay guys I just got back from my holiday with rather nasty heatstroke and horrible sunburn. Right now I'm a walking replica of why you should wear sun cream...**

**Also having a bit of writers block here, so not as happy with this chapter as I want to be. However, I watched a movie recently and got an idea for another fic that I might start writing soon...**

**On that note thanks for all the lovely reviews I had the pleasure of coming home to! Totally and honestly appreciated so thank you all so much :D**

**Another time maybe, onwards and upwards!**

* * *

Chapter 6

In the next few weeks of school, Naomi found herself welded insanely into the most dysfunctional group of friends she had ever come across. Their _gang_ consisted of her, Cook, Effy the beautiful and mysteriously quiet, Freddie the skateboarding weed-bin, Thomas the gentle wanna-be DJ from the Congo, Pandora the over-eccentric naively innocent, JJ the apparently 'psycho', Katie the absolute bitch and Emily.

_Oh Christ._

She had done it. She had gone and befriended Emily. Well, _befriended_ was probably too strong a word considering she had never spoken to the girl but still. They had wiggled their way into the same group of friends and Naomi hated it. Hated that Katie could so easily take the piss out of her whenever the moment took her fancy, hated that close proximity to Emily made her feel uneasy. So she was worthlessly using her best friend as her boyfriend. Anything to make herself feel normal, immune to Katie's rants of '_dyke', 'lezzer'_ and whatever other shit that came from the girl's mouth.

Cook was her answer, her heaven. And it was odd and felt uneasy but it was nothing in comparison to the oddness and uneasiness between herself and Emily. Naomi guessed it was because she had always seen him as a brotherly figure. _On the other hand,_ she reasoned with herself, _you hadn't seen him in years before this started and you'll admit he isn't exactly _bad _looking._

And it was true. She noted that Cook had turned into a fairly decent looking lad and, in terms of a pretend-relationship with someone, she could do a lot worse. Still it was something she was not keen to dwell on and so continued floating week after week in the comfort of Cook's arms. Ignoring glares from Katie and heartbroken looks from Emily.

But fuck it if she was going to give them the satisfaction of making her life hell and seeing her years later confused, broken and scared.

"Babe...babe...babe..."

Cook drew her from her musings.

"Thought I'd lost you there," he laughed, "Going to this party this weekend?"

_There's a party? How long was I out for?_

Getting lost in her own head was something Naomi frequently did these days. Luckily she had Cook to distract her from becoming totally lost in herself and wallowing in her own self pity.

"Yeah, some club in town Thommo's playing at? Means free entry...sweet yeah?"

It did sound pretty sweet.

"Fuck it, let's go mental," she replied half-heartedly, quoting her best friends favourite party line.

He laughed and gave her a quick hug before heading off to his next lesson before the bell could signal the end of their lunch break.

* * *

Katie practically dragged her to the club. It was blaring music and drunken people were throwing up outside it. Emily cringed, hoping no one she knew would be turning out like that by the end of the night, hoping _she _didn't turn out like that by the end of the night.

They skipped the cue, Thomas being able to get them in free, and headed straight for the bar. Katie ordered them shots as Emily scanned the place for a glimpse of anyone they knew.

Pandora was dancing away like a maniac in the middle of the dance floor, earning funny and amused looks from people nearby.

Effy was sitting in a booth in the corner with Freddie, talking and sometimes sending amused grins over to her friend on the dance floor.

Emily often wondered how two people so completely different could actually be such close friends. Effy was cool, attractive and mysterious. She could gain the attention of the entire room with a click of her fingers. Pandora would probably get the room's attention in slightly different circumstances, what with her bright and eccentric clothing, a stark contrast to Effy's gothic style. Pandora was loud and naive, whereas Effy would silently observe you and know all your darkest secrets.

Katie began walking towards the booth, earning a "hi" from Freddie and a nod from Effy. Emily liked Effy. She only ever talked when she had something to say unlike Katie who could talk for Britain.

They had been in the club a good while when Naomi and Cook stumbled in. Emily sighed and turned silent, praying that Katie could keep her big mouth shut and not say anything to Naomi. No such luck, as Katie was pretty far gone by now.

"Naomi! My favourite dyke!" she shouted as they approached.

"Katiekins, my favourite bitch," Naomi replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes like a champion and inching closer to Cook, who had his arm around her waist.

They took a seat opposite the twins, beside Effy who, Emily notice, was watching her every move like a hawk. That unnerved her. Effy was good at that.

The tension surrounding them eased as the drinks began to flow, Katie and Naomi forgetting about their verbal warfare in their drunkenness and settling for silently ignoring the others presence totally. It was a nice change for those who were sick listening to them having a go at each other, i.e Emily.

She couldn't stand how the two couldn't just get along, or at least stop snapping at eachother every other minute of the day. If she was ever to build a relationship with Naomi she needed Katie to be a bit nicer and..._whoa,_ where the fuck did that come from? She didn't want a relationship with Naomi did she? _She did!_ Ah fuck it, years of fighting her emotions had lead her nowhere. She quite clearly fancied Naomi, who quite clearly didn't fancy her back, who was quite clearly straight by the looks of it. Naomi was now on the dance floor, apparently wrestling tongues with Cook.

Emily left the table, heading for the toilets.

* * *

Naomi was on the dance floor with Cook. They were dancing close enough to be actually dancing with each other, far enough apart for this not to turn into a rather compromising position. Cook was well aware of Naomi's situation, had readily agreed to be her 'boyfriend' knowing that they'd never actually 'be'. He was being a good friend and Naomi was forever thankful.

Sure they'd pecked in front of the group, just to make sure that everyone, _Emily _and_ Katie_ included, knew that there was something going on and Naomi was indeed straight, but they'd never went much further. The occasional ass-squeeze on Cook's part was essential, loved up looks and uncensored flirting was a must. Physically, they'd never shown their friends how sexually active they'd been with each other, _not that it's their business, _but as Cook stuck his tongue out at her, a small white pill placed on the end, Naomi knew it was time to take their 'relationship' further.

She moved her head in, gently placing her lips on Cooks, who deepened the kiss almost immediately. Naomi felt the pill in her own mouth as Cook placed her hands behind his neck and encircled his own arms around her waist, placing his hands on her bum.

They kissed for a few minutes longer, to keep up appearances, before Naomi felt cool air brushing past her as they broke apart. She turned just in time to see Emily disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

She splashed water onto her face, trying to calm her shaking hands and gain control of her thoughts.

_Christ sake,_ she muttered to herself, _get a grip you idiot._

Emily looked at her own expression in the mirror. A few strands of her bright red hair stuck to her wet face. She watched as droplets of water slip from her face, landing in the sink. She watched as one slid from her forehead, down past her eye and down her cheek. If she didn't know any better she would have appeared to be crying.

She shook her head and dried her face on the rough blue paper towels placed along the sink. The situation just felt so surreal, she felt like she was in another world completely. She thought briefly of how Neil Armstrong felt on the moon, feeling so far from everyone else, from life itself.

She didn't hear the bathroom door open, didn't notice knowing blue eyes staring at her from the mirror.

"Tell me everything."

* * *

Naomi sat at their booth. Freddie and JJ were talking animatedly with Cook. They seemed to be getting on very well by the looks of it. Katie had fucked off to shag some lad no doubt, Panda was ogling Thomas from the foot of the DJ's platform, Effy and disappeared and Emily had not returned from...wherever she had went to.

Naomi had wanted to follow her. See if she was ok. Didn't know why she cared, she didn't want to care. She shouldn't want to care. Instead she had trailed Cook over to the seat and planted herself down so as to prevent her legs taking her somewhere she didn't want to be. She shouldn't want to be.

_Fuck it,_ she thought, excusing herself and heading towards the club's toilets. The nights intake of alcohol was resting in her bladder and she felt the need to relieve it. She'd head for a smoke after, she decided, and see where the rest of the night took her.

* * *

Emily felt like a rabbit caught in headlights. She wasn't sure if she trusted Effy enough to tell her what was troubling her. Not even to tell her half of it. But she reasoned that she'd had a fair bit to drink, so had Effy, and if she remembered it in the morning then she could blame it on the alcohol or something. Time to take the first step.

_One giant step for mankind I guess._

"I'm gay."

Effy didn't flinch, didn't even bat an eyelid.

"I know."

Emily paused, "You _know?"_

Effy smirked. "Doesn't take a genius to work it out."

_Oh Christ._

"You like her?"

"Yes."

"A lot?"

"More than I should. And more than I want Katie to know, she blames Naomi anyway. And I just stand there and let her because I don't want to lose my sister. I can't stand rejection, I hate it."

Effy smirked once again and threw Emily a wink as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Who said we were talking about Naomi?"

* * *

Naomi was about to push the door to the toilet open when she heard the muffled conversation from within. She'd recognise that husky voice anywhere.

"_A lot?"_

"_More than I should._ _And more than I want Katie to know, she blames Naomi anyway. And I just stand there and let her because I don't want to lose my sister. I can't stand rejection, I hate it."_

There was a short silence as she heard footsteps approaching the door. She backed off, not wanting to be caught eve's dropping but not before she caught her own name being spoken.

"_Who said we were talking about Naomi?"_

And with that Effy emerged from the bathroom, a triumphant smirk on her face. She caught Naomi's eye and winked as she walked past but said nothing.

_They were talking about you Naomi. Emily Fitch was talking about you._

Naomi continued into the small bathroom, only because if she avoided it her bladder would surely burst.

Emily was standing by the sinks, looking a mixture of scared and shell shocked and relieved. She looked up as Naomi entered and blushed, dropping her eyes.

The tension was too thick in the small space and Naomi felt the need to break it, but as she opened her mouth to speak her brain went to mush and a horrible spell of word vomit came out instead.

"I-uh...I just came to...I-em, are you...I mean you're...I-I just came to take a wee."

And with that she ran into the nearest cubicle and locked the door behind her. She sat on the closed lid of the toilet as she heard Emily sigh and leave the loos.

Thought after though plagued her mind, Emily's words running endlessly through her head.

"_I don't want to lose my sister."_

Was that why Emily allowed Katie to wreck havoc upon her? Allowed her sister to call her all the names of the day because she was scared that if she told Katie the truth, that she kissed Naomi and not the other way around, Katie would hate her instead? Did that mean Emily was gay then?

"_I can't stand rejection, I hate it."_

Naomi sighed at that. Basically she was rejecting any form of friendship with Emily before she could even ask. She knew that and Emily knew that, and now it made her feel horrible. Perhaps she and Emily could put their past behind them and be friends, but she was too much of a coward to find out, didn't want to be hurt again.

Suddenly, another thought popped into her head. Was it that Emily couldn't stand being rejected for being _gay?_ Piece after piece of puzzle clicked together in her head, from that night at the party to the brief moment she'd spoken to Emily a while ago.

_Oh fucking Christ, Emily Fitch is gay._

* * *

**Sorry again about the delay guys, my minds been totally blank and I really struggled to finish this chapter. Hopefully I'll become more inspired as I write the next one and all will be good in the hood once again :P**

**Thoughts are always appreciated (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Aren't you just lucky people, I disappear for a week and come back with two chapters in the space of a few hours :D**

**I have a solid idea for where this story is going, although I havn't read over this chapter so I'm not sure how it's going to go down. Well I hope! (;**

Chapter 7

From her revelation onwards, Naomi kept a wide berth of Emily Fitch. She wasn't sure why she was so worked up about it all, she was no homophobe after all. In fact she was all for gays-hats off to them for having the balls to get out there. But somewhere in her mind a tiny voice was reminding her that she was scared. Scared that now Emily could possibly like her there was a small chance of them _being._ Being _Emily and Naomi._ Naomi and Emily. Like _Katie and Emily_ but without the incest. _Eww._

Still she carried on in her usual way. 'Being' with Cook. Fuck it, they were _Cook and Naomi._ And again the tiny voice in the back of her head was reminding her that if it went on much longer with Cook she would lose him. Then she would just be _Naomi_. Cold, distant and broken Naomi that she'd hoped never to see again.

Through her worrying thoughts she found a peace of mind in her guitar. She would play in the streets until all hours, enjoying the serenity she found in listening to her own music filling the town, enjoying forgetting about it all for a while without a hangover the next day. She'd play until her fingers were red-raw and then she'd go home and rest them and come back the next day.

Sometimes she'd recognise the faces of people who stopped by often to listen to her. 'Daily Listeners' she liked to call them. They consisted of a tall man who always wore a suite and carried a briefcase, a short guy in his early twenties with long straightened hair covering his ears and large 'geek' glasses, a pretty woman who was no doubt the stereotypical 'receptionist on a coffee break' and a group of teenagers not much older than herself who sat on the wall on the opposite side of the road. They cheered whenever she played a song they liked and bopped their heads in time with the music.

Today however, Naomi saw the familiar glint of red hair, as she always did in the summer, and noticed Emily sitting in her usual place, with her usual coffee and her usual book. Naomi finished her last song, noting the decrease in people lining the streets, and packed up her things. She emptied the coins people threw into her empty guitar case into a bag and slid the straps of her guitar case over her shoulders.

As she turned to leave, she left a strange feeling in her gut, and on instinct followed it. Her gut was usually right. She turned back.

* * *

Emily lowered her eyes back to her book when she saw Naomi turn to leave. She didn't want to see her walk away again, was sick of seeing her walk away. She didn't, therefore, notice Naomi sit down beside her. She raised her head but continued to stare straight ahead of her. Mostly out of shock, she hadn't been this close to the blonde in 4 years.

"You used to watch in the summer too."

Emily took a minute to process the fact that Naomi had noticed. Naomi Campbell had _noticed_ her.

"Yeah, well I like your music."

"Uhm...thanks."

"I knew I'd recognised you from somewhere."

"Couldn't quite place me?"

Emily finally turned you face Naomi.

"Well you've changed a lot."

Naomi was beat, Emily could tell.

"Can I get you a coffee?"

Emily's eyes snapped to Naomi once again. She was staring at the empty Starbucks cup sitting beside her.

"I-uh, I don't drink coffee."

Emily watched Naomi's face contort to a frown, then continued to watch her frown at the cup for several more moments. It was amusing watching the clogs turn in her head as she tried to figure out why a non-coffee drinking person would possibly have an empty coffee cup beside them.

"But," Emily began, making sure to emphasise the word, "They do serve killer Caramel Hot Chocolates."

Naomi raised her eyes to Emily again and Emily allowed herself to become lost in the blue orbs for all but a second before smiling slightly at the blonde.

Naomi gave her a small smile in return.

"Can I buy you a hot chocolate instead then?"

Emily wasn't sure. She and Naomi's 'relationship' was definitely a dodgy area. _It's never going to repair itself if you keep avoiding each other,_ her head told her.

"Uhm-"

"Look, I've got all this change here," Naomi stated, indicating to the jangling bag hanging across her shoulder, "And I need rid of it to be honest..."

"Sure."

The pair crossed the road and entered the emptying coffee shop.

"We close at 6," called a waitress from behind the counter. Emily checked her watch, 5p.m, and took a seat near the window as Naomi went to buy the drinks. She watched as business men and office workers straggled town the main street, exhausted from a day's work, and tried to ignore the butterflies in the stomach.

_Naomi Campbell is having coffee with me. ME!_

A few minutes Naomi sat down opposite her, and watched the world pass the window. There was a slightly awkward silence between the pair, though not nearly as tension filled as it had in the past.

"How have I changed?" Naomi mused, her eyes never leaving the view from the window.

Emily hesitated before answering, thinking of all the ways Naomi really had changed in the past 4 years.

Naomi noticed her hesitation and quickly said, "I mean I was just wondering, you don't have to ans-"

"Your hair's longer, your taller, tanner. You're thinner, you're..."

Emily stopped mid rant and reached into her bag. She pulled out her book and removed the bookmark.

Naomi's brow creased in confusion as Emily continued to unfold the bookmark, which turned out to be a folded up photo.

"You're not her," Emily concluded, pointing to a smaller, short-blonde haired girl in the front row of the photograph.

* * *

Naomi scanned the photograph. It was her old Year 9 class, and her twelve-year-old self was smiling at her from the front row. As she returned her gaze to the window she saw her reflection staring back at her in the glass and realised just how much she truly had changed.

Physically at least. She was only too aware of how she had changed emotionally. Become a shell of her former self. Resorting to sarcasm to ward off any incoming criticism, hiding behind walls she had built within herself to shield her away from the world, becoming cold as ice.

Emily uttered seven small words to her as she got up and left, placing her empty mug on the table in front of her.

"I know she's still in there, Naomi."

Naomi fixed her stare on Emily's empty cup, noticing how full her own still was.

"Thanks for the drink."

And the door shut closed as a light wind entered the cafe. Naomi didn't feel it though, Emily had left her feeling numb, _again._

Surprising how a simple coffee could change how you viewed your choices throughout the past four years of your life. Naomi began questioning every move she'd made since that night at the party. Asking the dreaded '_what-if' _question.

_What if I'd not moved to Spain? What if I'd stuck out Katie's bitching for a few more years? What if I'd never went to that party in the first place?_

It was driving her mad.

She chugged the rest of her lukewarm coffee and left the Starbucks. She wandered through the empty streets, still lost in thought, until she managed to shut her bedroom door behind her, admittedly not before tripping a few times on the stairs on the way up.

She began raking through her music collection, deciding it would be quicker just to rake through her iTunes instead and grabbed her laptop from her desk. When she had found the song she was looking for she quickly set about Googling the guitar chords, scribbling them down on a page along with the lyrics and hauled her guitar from its case once again.

* * *

Emily had felt refreshed as she'd left the coffee house yesterday. She'd finally had a conversation with the blonde and for once it was her walking away. Now though, as she ambled aimlessly through Bristol town centre, she wasn't so sure if telling Naomi these things would help rebuild their friendship. Mostly she was worried about Naomi's reaction.

She was drawn from her thoughts as she walked into a short, stubby man with a bowler hat.

"S-sorry," she stammered as he shot her a look, before continuing his brisk strolling down the street. Come to think of it, she noticed that Bristol was exceptionally busy for a Sunday. Still she continued strolling down street after street, ignoring the unfinished coursework sitting on her bedroom floor that needed finishing before tomorrow, and hoping, maybe just a tad, that she would see Naomi while she was out and gauge her reaction to last night, so as to prepare herself for tomorrow.

She entered the top of the main street and slowed. This was the street Naomi played on, the street the coffee shop was on, and the street she could hear the familiar twangs of Naomi's guitar strings sounding from. She smiled as she approached the blonde, although totally hidden from view by the large crowd. She froze, however, as she heard the lyrics protruding from Naomi's sweet singing voice.

"_Cause it's a Bittersweet  
symphony, that's life.  
Trying to make ends meet  
you're a slave to the money, then you die.  
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down.  
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah._

_No change,  
I can't change  
I can't change  
I can't change  
But I'm here in my mould  
I am here in my mould.  
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next  
I can't change my mould, no-no, no-no, no._

And Emily wondered, as she walked away, just how aware Naomi was that those lyrics contradicted everything she had tried to convey to her last night.

* * *

She couldn't change, she'd forced herself into a hole in her own body so deep she couldn't see the light anymore. Couldn't find her former self in the darkness. But she didn't mind her new self; she couldn't get hurt this way.

She kept these thoughts in her head as she finished singing the song. It was silly, almost childish that she felt the need to be so extreme in an attempt to assure herself. Singing in a busy city centre about how you won't change at all for anyone is pretty extreme after all.

_Whatever happened to the motto 'No pain, no gain' Naomi?_

She was about to start another song when a man approached her. He was quite short for a guy, still taller than she was though. He was young, early twenties she guessed, with shaggy dark hair a bit longer than Freddie's. Perched on his nose was a pair of large geeky looking glasses. She was about to ignore his presence, recognising him as one of the people who would wait around to listen to her sometimes, when he cleared his throat.

"Hi, my name is Jonathan, Jonnie, eh-Bailey...Jonnie Bailey. I, eh, work for a number of bars and clubs around Bristol and I would uh-like to offer you a gig..."

Naomi zoned out there and then. A _gig._ He wanted her to stand and sing _on a stage._ Fuck off. No way. No way hosey..._Christ._ But her mind was invaded with a series of childhood memories, of getting her first guitar, playing her first chord, learning her first song and singing along, planning any number of 'band practises' in Spain she never got round to attending. She hadn't taken in a word he'd said but somehow found herself inching forward to that childhood dream she'd hidden at the back of her heart...

* * *

She found Cook where she knew she always would. In Keith's pub. Their place.

"Cook," her voice sounded more urgent than she thought it would, but she had his full attention none the less.

"I need to talk to you."

"Fire away babe," he replied.

"I got offered to play a gig."

She'd told Cook about her busking, and her ambition to become a singer. He was probably the only person to know about it apart from perhaps her mother, who didn't really need Naomi to tell her, Gina just knew these things. She was surprised by how well he had taken it, supported her whole-heartedly too.

"Fucking ace man!" he shouted, clambering off the stool and gripping her in a bear hug. He soon noticed her lack of enthusiasm and his smile disappeared.

"Naomi...Naomi!"

He clicked his fingers in her face, gaining her attention back from staring into space.

"You did say yeah, didn't you? Babe?"

"Yes."

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed that one! Thoughts are always a lovely surprise (:**

**Much as I would truely love to stay up and await your spectacular reviews (Thanks for those on the last chapter by the way, not sure if I've said that already...) it is infact 00:52 according to my laptop and probably time I went for a kip, I'm exhausted!**

**Goodnight!**

**(Oh and just FYI; the song used in this chapter is called 'Bittersweet Symphony' by 'The Verve'. If you havn't heard it...GO LISTEN TO IT YOU SAD SACK! No no, your not sad, im sorry...but its a classic, give it a shot! :D)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Once again thanks for the reviews! **

**This chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones; mainly because I wanted to get this whole part over with in one go. I'm not good at writing long chapters because I get bored of the same situation for too long so if I've babbled a bit I can only apologize!**

**Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 8

She always found it easy to run from things that scared her. Run from situations when they got difficult. When there was an inkling of her actually getting hurt...she was gone, just like that. Sprinting off into the distance like a woman possessed.

Now, however, there was no running. And she was shit scared. Scared to picture herself sitting on a stage and playing and singing. Scared of her dreams coming true. Scared of being successful, getting her own hopes up, and screwing everything up. Scared of being a fuck up.

But there was no backing out now. She had agreed with Mr. Bailey,_ "Call me Jonnie, please,"_ he had insisted on the phone the other day as they arranged dates and venues, that she would definitely play at a bar slash night club on a date a few day from now. Nerves were now bundling permanently in her stomach, tying themselves in knots that she couldn't untangle.

_Fuck sake,_ she cursed as she struck another wrong chord in the song she was currently learning. Jonnie had advised her to have around 10 songs ready for performance, not likely that she would play that many but just in case, and to play more popular songs that the audience would recognise at first and move into the less known songs as she grew more popular.

It made sense in a way, but Naomi's sense in music was possibly the strangest she'd ever come across, made up of a series of songs none of her friends had ever heard of. _Indie_ if she had to label it. Not that she believed in labels.

_Labels._

That made her thoughts turn another direction.

_Emily. Gay Emily._

'Gay' was a label wasn't it? Naomi didn't believe in being 'gay'. Not that she would refuse to accept that other people were, nor did she mean it in a homophobic way. People could call themselves whatever they liked for all she cared. What she meant was that she wouldn't call herself 'gay'. Or 'bi'. Or even 'straight'. And that contradicted everything she had said in the past few weeks, which in turn contradicted everything she had spent years in Spain trying to figure out. After 4 whole years of thought on the subject, she had come to the conclusion that sexuality was a label, and she believed people set out in this world to find love, not choose it.

And she felt guilty for going against her own beliefs out of fear what others would think. She never cared before. But suddenly, in light of the return of those Fitch twins, she was suddenly a quaking ball of nerves and it sickened her. Sickened her that once small red-head had such an effect on her.

"Christ!" she shouted aloud, slamming her guitar on her bed in frustration.

"Everything alright dear?" Gina asked, popping her head around the door frame.

"Frustrated," Naomi mumbled. She didn't want to tell her mum what was truly on her mind, even if the woman did know everything about her and could read her like a book.

"Ah yes, love does that doesn't it?"

Naomi's mouth dropped open in surprise, but Gina had disappeared in a way that was totally 'Effy-ish'.

_Ridiculous,_ she thought sitting back down on the bed and running a hand through her hair.

* * *

The common room was pretty empty when she entered College the next morning. There were a few tossers sitting on the sofas as she walked in, who wolf-whistled at her as she walked in to which she flicked them the finger, but apart from that and a mass of bright red hair at a desk in the corner.

Emily was hunched over a pile of textbooks, occasionally scribbling down notes and swearing or often than not. After a rather loud series of profanities, along with the tearing out of the entire page from the notebook she was working from, Emily sighed, resting her head in her hands staring at the books.

Naomi approached her, cautiously at first, before telling herself to get a grip and striding over to the desk.

"You alright, Ems?"

'_Ems'? 'EMS'? So you've given her a fucking nickname you twat, you've spoken to her all but twice Naomi you fucking idiot._

Ignoring the rants of her inner monologue, Naomi pulled out at chair and sat down beside the red-head. Emily averted her eyes from the pages of the textbooks and gazed at the blonde beside her. Naomi noted how stressed she currently looked, the beginnings of dark rings forming under her tired looking eyes.

"I've got this Spanish coursework that needs finished by last class, but it's too fucking hard. I stayed up all night trying to get it done only to realise I'd completely misread the question and wrote a load of bollacks."

She finished speaking with a heavy sigh and returned to gazing at the books and her now blank page, pen sitting on top of the paper, waiting to be used.

Before Naomi had time to even think about what she was about to do, her mouth moved of its own accord and her brain went blank as 3 words spilled out of her mouth.

"I'll help you."

And it was out there now, in the open. Her offering to help, cold exterior all but melted in the presence of Emily Fitch.

"You don't have to...I mean it's hard and...You don't even do Spanish and..."

"Emily," Naomi cut her off, chocolate brown saucers averted once again from the pages to watch her, "I lived in Spain for 4 years, Spanish is easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy, I'll help you out."

'_Easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy'? Christ Naomi you're on a roll of embarrassing things to say today aren't you?_

She didn't allow her embarrassment show through the genuine smile she sent Emily's direction.

Emily just sent her a simple, "Thanks," as she set about starting the work.

Emily, to Naomi's surprise, was a lot more fun to be around than she ever let on. Many times they had to stop working completely because they were laughing so hard, making fun of mispronunciation-mostly on Emily's part-and Emily's Spanish teacher's wacky teaching style.

Lunch bell came and went, neither of the two girls moving from their seats. Eventually Naomi left to get them both crisps and drinks from the vending machine at the far end of the common room. She passed Effy, who had no doubt been watching then intently by the look of the smirk plastered smugly across her face as Naomi passed her.

"Sweet," she simply said, though it almost sounded like a jibe to Naomi.

"I'm helping her with coursework," Naomi replied.

"Uh-huh," was all she heard as she watched Effy's retreating back in disbelief.

_Typical._

* * *

Thrilled to bits. That's all she was.

Thrilled that not only was Naomi helping her, and had been most of the day, but she was being _nice_ as opposed to her usual sarcastic bitchy self. A glimmer of her former self shining through.

And they had laughed, and talked and chatted, and she sat so close to her. So very close Emily could feel her breath across her face. Could count the eyelashes lining her perfect eyes. _But she's straight, Emily, so keep your pervy thoughts to yourself. Don't ruin this._

Naomi returned to the table with two cans of coke and to packets of crisps.

"I didn't know what to get you," she said, throwing a packet of salt and vinegar Walkers at her. Emily smiled.

"These are my favourite anyway."

Now Naomi smiled at her. The second genuine smile Emily had seen from her today. She knew because it reached her eyes, and made them crinkle a bit at the sides.

Emily had noticed many other things about Naomi that morning. How her nose crinkled as she thought over things, how her brow furrowed when she was confused, how her hair fell around her faced when she was buried in books, how her laughter seemed to bubble up from somewhere deep in her throat but still sounded like music to her ears. Emily was falling, she knew it, and she didn't want to stop falling.

"Naomi, babe!" Cook called from the doorway as he waltzed into the common room, accompanied by Freddie and JJ.

"You weren't in Politics, I waited for you and all yeah? Where've you been?"

Naomi blushed ever so slightly, a gorgeous rosy colour filling her pale cheeks.

"I-uh, I was helping Emily with coursework."

He sent a wink Emily's direction and continued laughing along with Freddie and JJ, sitting on the now empty sofas. Emily hadn't realised how empty the common room had become and wondered how long she'd been alone with Naomi.

"You didn't have to miss your Politics class for me," she said quietly, feeling her own cheeks staining red.

"No, no I wanted to help," Naomi replied, brow crinkling ever so slightly as she packed her own books into her bag.

Emily smiled, regarding Naomi with fondness.

"There's the old Naomi I know," she whispered quietly.

Not quietly enough it appeared as Naomi's eyes snapped to her, the ghost of a smile whispered across her pretty face. They stayed silent for a few moments, eyes locked, before Naomi broke the silence.

"You just need to write your conclusion, text me if you need any help."

And with that she left, leaving a crumpled piece of paper on the table, Naomi's small neat writing plastered on it in black ink. Under the numbers was Naomi's name a cute drawing of a smiley face.

_Naomi (=_

Emily slipped the paper into the breast pocket of her shirt and packed her own bags, leaving the common room with a small smile on her face.

* * *

Saturday morning was upon Naomi sooner than she would have hoped. As she lay in bed trying to untangle the knot of nerves in her stomach, catch the butterflies floating inside her in a net and swallow the sickly feeling building in her throat her phone buzzed on her bedside table. She picked it up and checked who it was from.

Unknown number.

She pressed the 'Open' button, squinting at the tiny text on the screen through the light from her phone in the darkened room. Oh the joy of curtains to block out the light of day.

_**E: Hi Naomi, its Emily. Thought id text so you can save my number (:**_

Naomi didn't know why she was smiling, but punched back a reply anyway.

_**N: Thanks :D coming to my gig tonight?**_

She collapsed back on her bed, closing her eyes as she waited for the reply. She wasn't sure why she felt so eager for Emily to be there, Emily would no doubt bring Katie and that could be disastrous. Her phone buzzed soon enough and she quickly opened it to read Emily's message.

_**E: You're playing a gig? Thats awesome! Of course im coming, cant wait (:**_

_**N: Great, thanks (: starts at 7, friends get free entry and drinks all night! Should be a blast lol :D**_

Naomi decided that it was time to get up, showered and allowed the day to pass.

And it did. Far too quickly for her own liking. And far sooner than she anticipated she found herself raking through her wardrobe and perched in front of her mirror. It took a while but she finally settled for dark skinny jeans that complimented the curves of her hips, a long white t-shirt, black waistcoat and black converse. Makeup wise she tried to keep it natural, pale foundation and very little blusher, but dark smokey eyes and plenty of mascara. She straightened her blonde hair, allowing it to fall past her shoulder blades, back-combing the top of it ever-so-slightly to add a little volume. Pleased with her efforts, she headed downstairs, knowing Cook was waiting for her as she heard him call at her door a few minutes ago.

She ran into her mother in the hall.

"You look stunning love," Gina said appraisingly, taking in her daughters appearance, scanning her outfit, her hair-do and finally resting her eyes on her daughters face.

Naomi snorted, "You're my mum, you have to say that."

"Smoking babe, you look hot Naomikins!" Cook exclaimed, standing in the kitchen doorway.

Gina threw her daughter an 'I-told-you-so' look, smiling lightly as she breezed past the pair and up the stairs, carrying a basket of fresh washing.

"Good luck love," she called as Naomi and Cook snapped the front door closed behind them.

"Ready to rock and roll?" she asked her best friend with a smile.

* * *

Side-stage was stuffy and sweaty. Naomi didn't like the feeling at all. Nerves were nestled securely in her stomach, being tickled feverishly by about a million butterflies making her feel sick. She pulled at the collar of her t-shirt once again and fiddled with her hands like she always did when she was nervous.

_I can't do this. Why the fuck did I agree to this? Christ._

"Naomi?"

The stage door opened and Emily's head appeared around it. She stepped through it, walking towards Naomi carrying a bottle of water.

"I brought you this in case you..." she began, holding the bottle of water up but pausing when she caught sight of the blonde.

"Are you alright? You look really pale."

And the nerves and butterflies were moving upwards within Naomi, constricting her lungs until she couldn't breathe. She could fee tears welling up in her eyes and she spluttered, bending over to try and gain control of herself.

But two small hands pulled her upright, turning her to face the petite red-head. Emily grabbed Naomi's wrists moving her hands until one was placed on her chest, just below her shoulder and the other was placed on the side of her abdomen, around her lower ribs. She placed her hands on the same places of Naomi's heaving chest and abdomen.

"Breathe Naomi," she whispered, "Breathe like me. Deep breathes."

And slowly but surely, Naomi felt her breathing level out, and normalise.

"Easy see?" Emily said softly.

"S-sorry," Naomi spluttered, feeling mortified that she let herself get so worked up.

"Panic-attack," Emily stated simply with a shrug of her shoulders, "I used to get them all the time, no biggie."

Naomi allowed a small smile to grace her face while Emily removed her hands from her torso and Naomi realised with a start that she was still clutching Emily and removed her hands instantly.

"Now drink," Emily said firmly, thrusting the bottle into Naomi's hand and turning to leave. "And good luck up there."

Naomi broke into a grin.

_Good luck indeed._

* * *

Emily's spirit was lifted as she returned to the group. She'd touched Naomi without her flinching away like she was diseased. It felt good to be able to help out, after Naomi had helped her with her coursework it was the least she could do right?

"She alright up there?" Cook asked as she sat down at their table.

She forgot that Cook had probably twice as many rights to be concerned about Naomi than she did. But she felt the need to keep Naomi's little incident to herself, partially selfishly because it was a moment she alone had shared with the blonde and part selflessly as she wasn't sure Naomi wanted everyone to know about it. She would tell Cook if she wanted to, it wasn't Emily's place to meddle with their relationship.

"Fine," Emily replied with a smile, "Just gave her a bottle of water to drink, you know?"

Cook nodded but fell silent as the room darkened and a guy with shaggy dark hair and glasses appeared behind a microphone after placing a chair and a lower microphone centre stage. He cleared his throat.

"I have great pleasure in introducing tonight's act, the every lovely, Naomi Campbell!"

The crowd broke into a series of cheers and wolf-whistles as Naomi appeared on-staged, looking nervous_,_ the loudest of which came from Cook, and made Emily cringe a bit. She looked utterly adorable though, fiddling with her hands as the crowd cheered.

'_Adorable' huh?_

Naomi took a seat, swinging the strap of her guitar over her shoulder and adjusting its position. Her voice was shaky as she spoke into the mic.

"Uh...thanks."

She gave the crowd a small smile.

"The first song I'm going to plays is...well it's a classic so you're all going to know it anyway."

She took a moment to adjust her grip on the guitar once again before pressing on the strings and strumming out the first chords of the song. Emily recognised the tune, vaguely, but couldn't place its exact tune because Naomi had added her own touch to the song, with Emily admired to no end. The blonde was very talented.

Naomi leaned forward towards the mic and allowed her sweet voice to fill the room.

"_You say  
we've got nothing in common.  
No common ground to start from  
And we're falling apart  
You'll say the world has come between us  
Our lives have come between us  
Still I know  
you just don't care."_

Emily smiled as the crowd cheered. She loved this song, and somewhere deep within her she placed the lyrics along her situation with Naomi. They would never become anything if they shared no common interests. _No common ground_. She vowed to find something she could share with Naomi, even if it just resulted in friendship, some Naomi would be better than none. She was pulled from her musings as Naomi's sweet voice exploded into the chorus, sending shivers up her back.

"_And I said  
'What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?'  
She said  
'I think I remember the film and  
as I recall I think we both kinda liked it.'  
And I said well that's the one thing we've got."_

Naomi turned out to be very popular with the crowd. Her songs went down well with everyone, particularly a spectacular rendition on 'Don't Stop Believing' which had everyone in the bar singing along. Emily was beginning to feel buzzed from the alcohol she had consumed and was cheering, shouting and clapping along with everyone else.

Eventually, Naomi spoke into the microphone again; her voice quite obviously calmer and more confident than it had been at the start.

"Okay, this is the last song I'm playing tonight..."

The crowd erupted in a series of 'Aww's and 'Boo's. Naomi laughed into the microphone, a sweet and chiming laugh, and continued on.

"It's called 'Bohemian Like You'...you've probably heard it before..."

The first chords rang out as Emily bopped, along with all the other nutcases, in time with the music and Naomi's voiced sounded once again.

_You got a great car  
Yeah, what's wrong with it today?  
I used to have one too,  
Maybe I'll come and have a look.  
I really love  
your hairdo, yeah  
I'm glad you like mine too,  
See what looking pretty cool will get ya? _

_So, what do you do?  
Oh yeah, I wait tables too.  
No, I haven't heard your band,  
'Cause you guys are pretty new.  
But if you dig on vegan food  
Well come over to my work  
I'll have them cook you  
Something that you'll really love."_

It was catchy and bouncy and Emily really liked it. She laughed and shouted along with the song until she glanced up on stage and saw Naomi staring at her in particular. She shot her a grin, which Naomi returned before starting into the chorus.

" '_Cause I like you  
Yeah I like you  
And I feel so Bohemian like you  
Yeah I like you  
Yeah I like you  
And I feel...Whoa ho woo!"_

* * *

**Just a few notes:**

**The whole part on Naomi's ideas about sexuality is also my own belief, as far as I know it's not a very common belief/idea but that's why I used it so please don't bash it! Or I might become offended and stop updating :P**

**The songs in the chapter are called 'Breakfast at Tiffany's-Deep Blue Something' and 'Bohemian Like You-The Dandy Warhols' in case anyone was wondering. They're great songs, check them out (:**

**Finally, thoughts on how the stories progressing so far? It's always lovely to read your ideas and reviews so help me along here. I am very inexperienced so your help is always appreciated! Please? Pretty please? Thanks :D**

**Over and out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Whoa! Quite the long chapter this once, which is a surprise seeing as inspiration was like...zilch, I'm surprised I got it finished to be honest!**

**Anyway, thought it was about time we started on the heavy Naomily shit so here it is, the first of many and I hope you enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

Chapter 9

Still buzzing from the success of last night, it took an ever increasing headache and a terrible case of munchies to remove Naomi from her bed. Popping two painkillers into her mouth and downing with a rather large glass of water she began setting about pouring herself a bowl of Coco Pops.

_Yes, sixteen and I still eat Coco Pops._

The events of last night still echoed through her groggy mind and she buttered toast. Dancing with Emily. Being hit on by various guys. Being bought endless amounts of drink. Dancing with Cook. Dancing with Emily.

It was strange how, after a full night of drinking and remembering very little of it, dancing with Emily was the most vivid memory she had; recalling perfectly how the redness of Emily's hair stood out from the crowd and changed as the coloured strobes flashed across it. A brilliant purple under blue lights, a fiery orange under yellow lights, the most amazing red under the white lights.

_Shut up now Naomi._

She gave her head a shake and continued making herself a strong cup of coffee and sitting at her kitchen table once again, still bleary eyes staring off into the distance.

"No college today?" Gina called, after passing the kitchen and seeing her daughter seated within.

"It's Sunday mum," Naomi called back, irritable that her mum could forget even the days of the week but constantly remind her to be in college.

"Right," was all she got in reply as she flipped through the discarded newspaper sitting on their kitchen table, scanning through anything political for any information she didn't already know.

_Unlikely that that will happen._

Politics was the one thing she was passionate beyond belief about. She supposed having an old hippy of a mother would have those types of benefits; obsession with politics, being good at public speaking, living with only life's bare essentials. Some people simply couldn't deal with that. People like Katie Fitch for instance.

Naomi winced as her thoughts moved to another red-headed person. She wasn't sure where she stood with Emily. She was certain they'd past into the 'Friendship' zone, mainly because on the tension-free night they'd shared last night whilst dancing drunkenly to heavy-beats blaring through speakers, but she was sure tension would return tomorrow morning, hitting her square in the chest and forcing all the air from her body and causing her heart to stop. Because that always happened whenever she saw Emily these days; her lungs would forget to breathe and her heart would flutter and flip until it twisted itself among her blood vessels and could no longer function normally.

But the tension she expected never came, for she barely saw Emily once the entire week of college. Workloads were increasing and free periods were spent trying to keep on top of homework as last minute scrambled began since Doug announced they would all be sitting Christmas exams in the next month.

Naomi found herself buried under the onslaught of work, blocking out all sunlight as she locked herself away from the world and attempted to find her way out of the caves and mountains of books and papers that had to be read and written and marked and re-written. By the time she'd dug her way out of the piles it was Friday and she was ambling slowly towards College, taking her time because her first period was a free and she'd miraculously managed to finish all the work she needed done for today during her rather sleepless night.

"Mornin' Panda," she grumbled to an over-excited looking Pandora bobbing up and down on the sofas of the common room.

"Aw whizzer, Naomi! Want to come to my party tomorrow? It'll be super-duper fun and all!"

_Oh God._

Pandora was too happy in the mornings for her own good, especially as far as Naomi was concerned, who ignored the question until she'd returned from the vending machines clutching a can of Red Bull.

"Naomi? Naomi? Naomi..."

"Huh?"

Naomi was shaken from her daydreaming by Pandora's hand resting on her shoulder and shaking her gently. On second thoughts 'daydreaming' wasn't quite the term to describe it, more like 'sleeping with your eyes open'.

"My party?" the blonde continued, "Are you coming or what?"

Naomi contemplated for a brief minute, only now realising just how tired she truly was and becoming aware that her body probably couldn't handle a night of partying 'Pandora-style' because let's face it, Pandora was about three times as much energy as the little Duracell bunnies Naomi saw on T.V.

Her mouth went against what her body was telling her as Pandora began naming the short list of people who would be attending; "Effy, you, Emily..."

"Sure I'll be there."

"...and Katie."

_Shit._

No backing out now though, Naomi didn't break her promises, something she always made sure of from the simplest thing to the almost impossible, if she promised it, it was done.

"Whizzer!" Panda was beaming now, "It's going to be flipping amazing!"

And Naomi wouldn't put it past her. And decided quickly that she was going to need a hell of a lot more Red Bulls to get her through the say as she placed the empty energy drink's can on the arm of the sofa.

* * *

The weekend didn't come soon enough as she found herself slipping further and further behind in her workload. Watching as it slowly but steadily increased in size until she was lost beneath a litter of books and paper.

She was glad when Katie announced that Pandora had invited them to a party, a reason to get pissed and ignore the screaming piles of coursework she had yet to complete was exactly what she needed. Vaguely her brain told her that she was even further behind in her Spanish than the rest of her subjects and wondered if that was just an excuse to spend another blissful afternoon huddled next to Naomi in the common room. She abruptly told her brain to shut up.

With a heavy sigh, she dragged herself away from the page she was supposed to be writing her coursework on, which was completely blank except for her name and the date and title. She was finding it hard to concentrate on the complex-looking accents and words highlighted in the open Spanish textbook lying on the table beside her and as a result she had doodled all over the previous page she had used and was forced to tear it out and throw it away.

Running a frustrated hand through her red hair, Emily padded from her cluttered bedroom up the hall to the bathroom for a shower while it was still Katie-less. The warm water helped ease her stress and she realised that she _really_ needed to go out tonight.

Like _really _really.

Really needed to forget the piles of work waiting for her. Really needed to forget the frustration she felt at school in general. Really needed to forget the frustration she had at Naomi in general. Her thoughts turned to the blonde and helplessly wondered whether she would be attending tonight.

_Most likely._

She couldn't image Naomi not being there, and to be honest didn't want her to not be there. Just wanted _not_ to feel these silly butterflies whenever she thought of the blonde and _not_ to feel like an idiot when she imagined the blonde also feeling the same. She guessed she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Naomi had Cook and she had no one. The thought of Naomi being off limits to her just making her want Naomi even more. It pissed her off really.

At certain times she would think of the blonde and try to force herself not to want her so badly and sometimes it would almost work. She'd manage to forget about her pathetic need for the girl and things would feel a little nicer, but it would all go to the pits when she actually saw Naomi again and note all the adorable habits she had like biting her lips and fiddling with her fingers. Or else she'd catch a glimpse of her amazing smile, even if it wasn't (and rarely is) directed at her, and her heart would melt all over again. She really was mere putty in the girl's hands and there was fuck all she could do about it.

* * *

Naomi flicked through item after item of clothing, sighing heavily in frustration and flicking through them all over again. She never really gave a flying fuck what she wore, she was simply frustrated because she actually had _nothing_ to wear, and she figured Pandora's party was not one she should turn up in her knickers in. She hated to admit it, but she needed to go shopping.

Giving up hunting in her wardrobe, she tottered downstairs and through the kitchen to the utility room she had convinced Gina to get proclaiming 'Don't be such a hippy, get a fucking washing machine.' She was nine when she'd said that, one of her proudest moments. The first time she'd stood up for her beliefs. Bless her nine-year-old self. She missed the simpler days, when she worried about missing her favourite cartoons on telly, or how neat her handwriting was. Now, she had a lot more to worry about, exams and Emily jumping straight to mind. In her nostalgic state, she'd managed to forget why she was stood in front of her washing machine, until spying an old denim skirt she hadn't worn since her return from Spain and figured Katie wouldn't give her stick or being an 'out-fit repeater' like she most likely would if Naomi turned up to Panda's in her usual attire.

Lifting that and her favourite Superman tee-shirt from the pile of freshly washed clothes she headed back upstairs, not before sticking her nose into her shirt and inhaling the smell of her mum's washing detergent which she loved so much.

So now she was stood in front of the tall mirror in her bedroom, wearing a short denim skirt and superman tee-shirt. It seems she'd grown a fair bit since she'd last worn the skirt and it was now barely reaching her thighs. Thankfully it covered her bum and made her legs look nice, and that's all anyone ever asked of a skirt isn't it? She threw her hair up into a messy ponytail, the shorter layers not quite reaching and falling gracefully back around her face, framing it nicely. Finally feeling self conscious about the length of her skirt, she threw a pair of red leggings on under it and slipped her feet into a pair of battered yellow converse. She didn't add much make up, a bit of eye shadow to make the blue of her eyes stand out even more and mascara and a tad of blush. Finally topping off her lips with a strawberry flavoured lip gloss she added a shit-load of bracelets to her wrists, grabbed her bag and headed out the door, shouting a quick "bye!" to her mum as she went.

The November night was chilly, and Naomi folded her arms across her body to prevent herself shivering. She knew the way to Pandora's house, a slightly posh neighbourhood not too far from her street. She'd walked through it many times before, receiving a few filthy looks from some of the houses inhabitants, not that she cared. In the rapidly depleting light she scurried down the empty lane, stopping only once to remove her jacket from her bag and put it on.

She froze as she reached the front door. She'd never been invited to a friend's house before, and now her complete inexperience with people was causing her stomach to knot tightly with nerves as she heard lots of clinking and singing resounding within the house. She had that fear within her again, wanting to run away from it all, but before she had the change to act on the impulse she heard footsteps behind her and a husky voice shouting "Hi!"

She turned around to see Katie and Emily strolling down the driveway in perfect sync, Katie clutching a bottle of wine and Emily clutching a similar sized bottle of vodka. Naomi briefly noted that all she'd brought to the party was cigarettes and spliffs before Emily flashed a friendly smile as she approached and Katie looked her up and down, eyes resting on her jacket before a small smirk grew on her face.

"Abercrombie..." she said, noting the red logo on the right side of the cream jacket. "Didn't think you had designer in you Campbell."

Before Naomi could come up with a witty remark, Emily had elbowed her twin hard in the ribs with a hushed "I told you to be nice," which Naomi guessed she wasn't supposed to pick up on. She felt obliged to tell Emily that she couldn't see the day Katie would actually do as she was told but the moment was lost as Katie lost her balance in the ridiculously high heels she had on and threw her arms out to steady herself, causing her bag to fall from her shoulder with a clang as the sound of metal cans hitting concrete resounded throughout the empty street and Katie cursed a million profanities and she pulled the six-pack of cider from her bag and inspected each can to see if any were leaking.

At that moment, Pandora's front door was swung open, a short gasp was heard and the drink was hauled from each twins hand and thrown into a flower bed out of sight.

"What the fuck?" Katie shouted angrily as an apprehensive looking Pandora gestured for her to shut up whispering that they couldn't let her mum know that any of them smoked, drank, did drugs, basically anything that defined them as typical teenagers looking to have fun.

In reply to the questioning looks she was getting from the three people on her doorstep, Pandora elaborated.

"Oh you can't tell my mum the truth, she only do agaity-flip and go ra-ra!"

The three watched her retreating back inside the house, blank faced and thoroughly confused.

"Is she speaking English?"

Katie's voice broke through the silence as the followed her inside.

* * *

Pandora's mum, although strange, OCD and incredibly boring, was quite a nice lady. She had laid their large dining room table full of sweets, jelly, crisps and suddenly Emily felt as though she was at a nine-year-old's birthday as she eyes pink flowery paper plates.

Apparently Effy, Pandora and her mum, Angela, had began making brownies before she, Katie and Naomi had arrived, and the smell was wafting through the house and making her stomach rumble in anticipation. Skinny as she was, Emily Fitch could eat for five.

As she stood awkwardly in the hall, sandwiched between her sister and Naomi, Effy breezed from the kitchen, her usual grace making her look as if she was floating towards them rather than walking.

"Did you do it?" Katie's voice was laced with excitement.

Effy nodded once. Not really one for words was she?

"Great." Katie was grinning now, slightly evilly. Emily's curiosity got the better of her; it was never a good thing to see Katie smiling like that.

"What did you do Katie?"

Her reply was nonchalant.

"I text Effy earlier, we've spiked the brownies with MDMA."

She was horrified. That was bad-ass, even by Katie's standards, even by Effy's standards by the looks of how she shifted uncomfortable under Emily's incredulous gaze.

"Appreciate it OK? There's fucking forty quid's worth in there."

I heard Naomi give a small chuckle from beside me, and hoped to God that it was because of how vain that sentence just made my sister sound.

"Relax Emily," Effy drawled, "There's two separate trays, spiked ones and non-spiked ones. We were saving the non-spiked ones for Pandora's mum, but you can have some if you want."

"I wasn't worried about taking the MDMA," she shot back, "I didn't know if you were planning to drug Panda's mum or not..."

She trailed off, sounding pathetic and regretting getting so worked up.

To be fair, the brownies were delicious, and knowing that after a few she would be amazingly high just made Emily enjoy them even more. What she hadn't counted on was Pandora's mum entering the room and lifting four of the spiked brownies and eating them in quick succession.

_That can't be good._

And Emily watched as, to her horror, Angela became higher and higher, dancing and singing to unheard music and trying to pull all her clothes off.

"What's wrong with her?" asked an alarmed Pandora, "What have you done?"

_Shit, caught on._

Katie, Effy and Emily tried to shift Angela, who had now collapsed on the sofa, upstairs to her bedroom, and with a hell-a-lot of effort managed to although Emily was sure she had put her back out at some point.

They sat in Pandora's living room in guilty silence, as Pandora took in the information that her own dear mother had in fact been drugged, albeit by accident. At least she wasn't shouting and throwing them out, comforted by the loud belch her mum had given out halfway up the stairs, letting them all know, rather pungently, that she was still alive and breathing.

Emily thought she looked shocked rather than anything, but didn't want to push her luck by asking if she'd be ok. The drugs were starting to get to her head and she had a strange craving for vodka right now.

Vodka and dancing. And maybe a little bit of Naomi.

* * *

"Fuck this shit," Katie slurred, "Let's hit the town!"

And an almighty cheer resounded between the five girls which made it a little less almighty and they went about retrieving their shoes and jackets and headed out the door, leaving an unconscious Angela snoring in her bedroom. Naomi made sure to lift the large bottle of vodka before she left.

"Can't believe you drugged my mum," Pandora grumbled as they headed towards the city centre, music blaring from clubs becoming louder with each step.

"We didn't drug her Panda," Effy soothed, "she was supposed to eat the other brownies, not the spiked ones, I'm sorry."

And Naomi noted that she did sound genuinely sorry. And wondered in awe how Effy's bizarre friendship in Pandora seemed to chip away at her emotionless exterior.

They laughed and giggled their way down the darkening empty streets, Naomi swigging at more and more of the vodka, no longer wincing as it burned her throat. Occasionally she passed it to Effy, or Pandora, sometimes even Katie but she noticed that Emily seemed to love the drink as much as she did and, although not having had nearly as much as herself, was pretty far gone too.

They settled on the pavement outside a clothes shop, unable to see the name of which through the darkness but by the looks of the displays in the window, it was a pretty expensive one.

Naomi was surprised to notice that the wine and cider had miraculously found its way into Katie's bag and were being passed around. She'll admit, she was totally out of it. Cook would be proud.

Suddenly she found herself wanting, rather more needing to spark up one of the fags she had brought with her. That was the strange thing about being high and drunk; random sudden cravings.

She staggered unsteadily to her feet, mumbling something about going for a smoke and if anyone wanted to join her...

The side alley was dark, and slightly colder than the street on which they had been sitting. Naomi searched through her bag, cursing every now and then when she shivered and still couldn't find the damn cigarettes. Eventually her hands closed around a small box shape and she cursed even louder when she discovered that she had only succeeded in pulling the spliffs from the bag and not her beloved cigarettes.

"You ok?"

Naomi jumped slightly as Emily appeared at the top of the alley.

"Christ you scared me."

And suddenly the situation was hilariously funny and they were both pissing themselves laughing at absolutely nothing but it was ok because Naomi was within 10 feet of Emily and her stomach wasn't doing summersaults.

_Probably because it's too busy trying to hold all this cake and alcohol you've consumed you pie._

With a triumphant "AH-HA!" Naomi pulled the cigarette packet from the depths, and now began searching through it for her lighter. It took her at least another ten minutes to find the bloody thing but when she had she was rewarded with the soothing bliss of nicotine.

She held the fag out for Emily, who took a deep drag and allowed the smoke to come back out through her nostrils.

"Not choking to death this time are we?" She found herself laughing. She hated how alcohol made her bring up things she was really trying not to talk about and everything just came out in one big splattering on word vomit.

Emily hesitated, a confused smile on her lips, fag still clutched between her fingers. Naomi yanked it from her, desperate for the smoke to cloud her brain, and hopefully erase her last statement from her mind as if it never happened. Emily only chuckled nervously.

They both shivered in unison as a particularly chilly gust of wind blew down the alley and Emily laughed again and trailed Naomi into the sheltered alcove of a doorway, no doubt the back entrance to the fancy clothes shop they had been sitting by.

Only then, when she raised her eyes to look straight into Emily's did she realise they're close proximity. And then another bout of word vomit extracted itself from her hazy brain and landed all over Emily.

"So are you going to tell people you're gay anytime soon?"

Emily's face dropped.

"What? I'm not, I'm not gay."

Naomi half sighed in frustration, half snorted with laughter. Wanted to shake Emily by the shoulders and shout "OUT WITH IT" until she succumbed but didn't quite know why. She wasn't one hundred percent sure Emily was gay after all.

Her certainty began to rise as she felt soft lips touch her own. Emily was kissing her. Emily was kissing her _again._ And she didn't mind. It wasn't an unpleasant kiss, not at all. If anything she quite enjoyed it.

Emily pulled back, but remaining close enough that their noses were nearly touching as she opened her big brown eyes and surveyed Naomi's reaction.

Her eyes fluttered open after a moment, a small "oh" escaping her lips.

Emily smirked.

"You liked that."

Naomi gave her a small wink and shot back, "You're gay."

"Yes," Emily breathed. It was so quietly whispered that Naomi wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or not. But she felt Emily's lips return to her own, slightly firmer than before and she found herself reciprocating to their touch, kissing Emily back just as firmly. The kiss was deepened but both their hands remained by their sides, Naomi's cigarette burning down to the butt and burning her fingers but she didn't care, just dropped it to the floor and concentrated on how Emily's tongue was currently massaging her own and how that made her feel.

Warm and bubbly, excited and happy. Made her tummy twist into pleasant knots, caused her heart to flutter slightly and her hands to tremble in anticipation and a heat to surge towards her core that no one had ignited before now.

As focused as she was on these new and interesting sensations she didn't hear the heels clicking down the alley way or the voice echoing through the darkness.

"Are you two ok? You've been down here fucking ages and we thought you'd got lost or..."

Naomi could picture Katie's eyes open in shock, picture the anger building on her face, removed her lips from Emily's before Katie could trail her off again and prepared herself for the worst.

* * *

**Sorry that I just ended it like that guys. Don't hate me.**

**But I have idea's for the next chapter and fuck all for this once and I don't think I can write this one anymore without tearing my hair out!**

**Reviews are lovely and make me smile :D  
*Hint Hint**Cough Cough**Wink Wink**Nudge Nudge***

**LOL!**

**Quick question while I'm still here, should I try make all the chapters this length (around 4,000 words) and update a little less frequently or keep them short like the last fre (between 2,000 and 3,000 roughly) OR just make them all different lengths and just go with the flow?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry about the slight delay guys, I started writing this one as soon as the last chapter was posted but I just wasn't getting anywhere with it because I was too nervous about the 2 exam results that came out earlier today, so apologies if the start of this chapter is just a load of babble...my head wasn't really in it.**

**On the bright side, my A* and A inspired me to finish it off before I go out and celebrate...! :D**

* * *

Chapter 10

The silence was prolonged and awkward, Naomi refused to meet her gaze and Emily was too afraid to glance sideways, too afraid of what she mind find there. Katie could be damn scary when she was pissed off, and Emily was sure she was far beyond that now.

After a few moments of elongated awkwardness, Katie's shrill voice ruptured the silence, echoing around the deathly silent alley.

"What the actual fu-,"

Naomi tore herself from her before Katie could even finish her sentence, turning her back on both of them and striding quickly up the street and out of sight.

"-ck is going on?"

_Fucking coward._

Alone and afraid, Emily shifted her position until she was face to face with her twin.

"What the fuck, Emily?" her twin repeated and Emily, realising that she had ignored her first question, wracked her brains for an answer.

Truth be told she hadn't a clue what was going on either. First off, she and Naomi had been getting on well, and then Emily kissed her. Then she came out to Naomi, then Naomi was kissing her back just as fiercely and now Naomi was gone. It was a lot for her hazy mind to comprehend.

Katie just looked at her expectantly. And Emily still said nothing.

What the hell was she supposed to do? Pin the blame on Naomi like she had all those years ago? That was the cowardly way out, but then again look who acted the coward and took off. Should she just come out to Katie now? Surely not, judging by the look on Katie's face she wouldn't even take kindly to the news that Christmas has come early. Her twin was livid. Emily had fucked up and she knew it.

And still Katie looked at her expectantly. And Emily felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights. The metaphorical headlights coming in the form of Katie's piercing brown eyes. Still gazing intently, still waiting for a reply. A reply Emily just didn't have.

She felt a single tear slide down her face and watched Katie's hardened eyes soften a fraction. Everything was so confusing and she suddenly found herself lost in the middle of it. And Naomi was leading her on and pushing her away like a yo-yo on a string and Emily was sick of it, sick of being used and feeling like when she could finally be closer to Naomi, finding the blonde had pushed her even further away.

Naomi was a hardened shell, and Emily was determined to break her open.

Ignoring Katie's question completely, Emily pushed past her and followed the blonde up the street.

* * *

Naomi didn't know why she didn't enter running races more often. It was what she did best after all. Running from situations when they got too hard.

Hard, like Katie's eyes glaring at her as she cornered her and Emily in the alley. Naomi couldn't take a repeat of the last time Katie had had that look in her eye, so she'd ran. Ran from the bitch, and ran from Emily.

Sweet, sweet Emily. Lovely, friendly Emily. Emily, who unknowingly could flip her life upside down in the blink of an eye and Naomi wasn't even sure how. Or why.

But she hurtled up that alley and hurtled up the street they had been sitting on, ignoring Panda's alarmed cries of "Are you ok?" and "What the bloody heck happened?". Ignored the knowing look in Effy's eye. Ignored the obvious, because she couldn't like Emily like that. She wasn't gay. She wasn't into girls, she never had been.

_Once again, going against your own beliefs Naomi, whatever happened to 'no labels'? _

Still, she had Cook. She was supposed to 'be' with Cook. Even though they'd both agreed it was just one big charade to block Emily off, but the redhead had managed to push her way through all the obstacles and plant her perfect lips on Naomi's for one heart-fluttering kiss, and her twin walked down the same alley and suddenly Naomi's life was falling around her ears again.

Defeated and out of breath, she paused at the top of the main street. Walking halfway down and sitting a low wall. Realising with a jolt that this was the wall Emily always sat on when she watched her. Realising with another jolt that she didn't want to move.

So she sat on the wall, almost feeling Emily's presence as if she was sitting down beside her out of breath and defeated like she was. No wait, Emily really had just sat down beside her and Naomi wanted to jump up from the wall and run again, in spite of her tiredness. But Emily spoke before she could turn her thoughts to actions.

"Don't leave."

There was something so broken in her voice that made Naomi want to reach out to her and make it all go away, and hold her until she stopped crying and make her laugh until she saw that beautiful 'Emily smile'. So she remained rooted on the edge of the wall. Torn between leaving and hearing what Emily had to say.

"I'm not gay," Naomi found her mouth blurting out. It came out harsher than she expected and out of the corner of her eye she saw Emily deflate slightly.

"You don't have to be," came the whispered reply.

And Naomi knew that, knew she didn't have to be anything with Emily. They were sort of friends, and Naomi could barely handle that because her body reacted to the red-head differently than her head and it made her uncomfortable but she refused to be anything more, knew that if she tried she would surely explode.

"I have Cook," was all she could say as she got up from the wall and headed down the dark road.

"I have Cook, and I love him and I can't lose him."

* * *

Emily heard her repeat her last sentence over and over again. Listened to it become fainter and fainter and the blonde disappeared into the night. Felt another tear slide down her cheek, and another.

She heard the padding of footsteps on the street behind her, relieved that at least it wasn't the sounds of Katie's heels, and felt another presence sit on the wall beside her.

"So you told her then?"

Effy calmly lit up a cigarette, took a deep draw and offered it to her. She accepted without hesitation until she realised that it was a fag that caused all hell to break loose a short while ago and felt another tear slide down her cheek as she nodded in response to Effy's question.

"She'll come round."

But Emily wasn't sure she had the energy to wait for the blonde to 'come round'. She felt heartbroken and lonely. Other than Effy, who'd guessed rather than be told, Naomi was the first person Emily had come out to. She'd taken a leap of faith and had it all thrown back in her face.

Fear of rejection. That was what she hated. That was what she was facing.

She didn't want to go home tonight, couldn't deal with facing Katie again. As if reading her mind, Effy gently took hold of her wrist and pulled her from the wall. She didn't know how long they'd been sitting there, she was too lost in her own though to even notice where they were going until Effy threw her a large t-shirt and tucked her into a comfy double bed.

She couldn't sleep though, just stared at the white ceiling of Effy's bedroom, listening as the sleeping brunette's breathing became deep and even. She wondered what Effy dreamed about. She'd noticed the girl had become rather close to Freddie and briefly wondered if the two were fucking, or seeing each other, or if she was even right in her assumptions. Right now she didn't trust anything she assumed. Assumed she was right to come out to Naomi, now she couldn't go home. Assumed Naomi wanted her back, yet she was lying here alone. Noted absently that those last two sentences rhymed, and that she was a poet and she didn't know it, before chuckling dryly and closing her eyes.

Sleep came to her eventually, but it was uncomfortable and filled with deep reds and shining blues and browns and blondes and punctuated occasionally by shrill screams.

* * *

Monday morning loomed as Naomi watched the minutes tick ever-closer to the moment her alarm would start buzzing and she would usually grumble her way out of bed. Instead she leapt out of bed the moment it went off, flicking the switch and headed straight out the door the moment she was dressed, skipping breakfast which would not go down well with her mum when she returned.

She was confused at how anxious she was to see Emily, unsure whether it was to check if the girl was still alive and not completely heartbroken or to just to see her. Emily, beautiful Emily as Naomi remembered her best; hunched over a desk in the common room surrounded by Spanish textbooks. What an amazing day that had turned out to be. She wished she could be close to Emily like that every day, wished her brain would let her listen to her heart for a change; listen as it steady rhythm increased at the mere thought of the red-head, as it tried to leap out of her chest at the sight of her, thumping away at her rib-cage when the girl was only a few feet away.

Naomi had reflected a great deal over the weekend, realised that she had been silly to even try to deny any sort of feelings for Emily and, despite her head telling her otherwise, she wanted to do something about it. Needed to do something about it. Even though she was slightly unsure at what she was feeling...and slightly scared by it. Played her fears away on her guitar as she usually did and prepared for her next gig on Tuesday.

College was deadly empty when she arrived, noting that she was almost an hour and a half early. She sat by the gates, waiting for the slightest glimpse of red among the increasing crowd of students, despite her shivering in the cool morning air.

When, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two flashed of red as Katie and Emily hustled through the crowd she made a mental note to her brain to notice just how quickly her heart had sped up and that it should keep its ideas to itself before following them inside.

College was busy though, as exams would be starting in just a few weeks, and Naomi didn't see Emily much all morning. It wasn't until her lunch break that she noticed the red head disappearing out the doors onto the green.

Feeling slightly like a red-head stalker, she snaked between loitering students, careful to avoid Cook's vision and once again ignoring Effy's knowing look, manoeuvring out of the common room and following Emily into the cool mid-afternoon.

She figured that the green was so deserted due to the harsh November wind and occasional spats of rain.

_Perfect._

She had Emily to herself for the time being at the very least. She was sitting on one of the benches at the far end of the green, head buried in yet another text book and so didn't see Naomi approach.

"I'm sorry."

Naomi watched Emily's head shoot up at the sound of her voice, her wide eyes hardening after a moment of staring.

"I'm studying," she replied forcefully before returning her gaze to her book.

Naomi sighed.

"Look Emily, I was surprised and I got scared. I'm sorry I left like that."

"Scared of what Naomi? I'm asking you to try here; it's not much to ask. Just that you stop pushing me away, maybe let me in. I know you Naomi, so try for me."

Naomi's carefully planned conversation faded.

"You didn't ask me to try anything." She was slightly baffled.

"I'm asking you to try now," Emily whispered.

"I'm scared," Naomi admitted, her voice strangled.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. It was clear that Emily had had a rough weekend, judging by the circles forming around her eyes and her short temper. She flared up at once.

"Scared of what Naomi? What exactly is scary about me? That I'm a girl? Scared of what people are going to think of you? Scared of what Katie will say? Go on, amuse me."

"Katie made my life hell that last time Emily, or are you too naive to realise that's why I left? She ruined me and you just let her. Stood by and watched all the names she called me. Allowed me to take the blame for everything."

Naomi felt angry now. Felt her resolve to make a difference with Emily slip away, being replaced by the usual fear and doubt. Emily on the other hand looked quite stricken.

"I'm sor-"

"Funny how you're suddenly sorry now," Naomi shot before Emily could finish.

"Naomi I-"

Once again Naomi cut her off.

"No Emily, I came here to try and fix things with you, and you've thrown it back in my face and-"

"You've thrown everything back in my face Naomi, and all I do is try."

And Naomi had no comeback, hadn't realised just how much Emily had tried, hadn't realised how much of a bitch she was to her.

She stood as Emily got up to leave, gently trying to pull Emily back towards her. But Emily shrugged her off with a quiet "Don't". She tried again, needed to truly apologize to her face but Emily shrugged her off a little more violently, anger lacing her voice as she spoke.

"Don't Naomi."

"Oi."

A third voice interrupted their argument, a voice Naomi was getting sick of hearing now.

Katie Fitch stood behind Naomi, arms folder tightly across her chest and scowl planted perfectly on her features. _Classic Katie._ She gripped Naomi's shoulder and spun the blonde around until they were face to face. Naomi reciprocated the scowl as the stood face to face. Katie spoke first.

"Stay the fuck away from my sister, you stupid lezzer."

Naomi didn't even try to defend herself, knew there was no point in denying it to Katie and didn't want to pin the blame on Emily, for some strange reason.

"Katie," Emily warned.

"Shut up bitch," Katie shot back at her sister, and Naomi felt this strange protectiveness form inside her. _No one talks to Emily like that._

"Fuck off Katie, haven't you got some 'slutting' to be doing."

Katie, it appeared, had had a rough weekend also and was in no mood to be messed around. In one fluid movement she back-handed Naomi across the cheek and sent her sprawling to the floor. Naomi only heard Emily gasp in shock as she tried to clear her vision, all the while clutching her cheek which was most definitely going to be bruised. Katie bent down over and planted another swing to her face, this time catching her lip with the punch and knocking them into Naomi's tooth. She flinched slightly as she felt the flesh break and blood beginning to pour down her mouth.

"Katie!" came Emily's frantic shouts, her hands trailing on Katie's shoulders, trying to pull her way.

Barely registering what she was doing, Naomi grabbed Katie's top, pulling her out of Emily's grip and sending her too flying to the floor.

"Naomi!" Emily cried, desperately trying to calm the brawl.

Naomi ignored her, slapping Katie clean across the face. The pair struggled on the ground, fighting scrappily with each other without any major blows being struck. Eventually Naomi rolled Katie off her, landing on top of her and raising a fist into the air ready to strike.

She heard Emily's mangled gasp as something clicked inside her and suddenly she felt so stupid. She should be fighting for Emily's heart, not fighting her sister. Without a word or a backward glance, she picked herself up from the floor and walked away from the equally shocked twins. She paused before heading back inside, ducking quickly down the side wall of the building and resting her head against the bricks.

Many deep breaths later she'd managed to gain control of her anger and calm her shaking fists. She heard the soft clatter of feet of concrete ground as Emily deliberately appeared at the top of the corner, walking briskly and purposely down the distance between herself and Naomi, who had just got up to leave. Sooner than Naomi expected, Emily had closed the distance between them, slamming Naomi into the wall and attached their lips. Naomi winced as Emily's lips brushed over her cut but didn't break the kiss.

"You just hit my sister," Emily broke apart.

"Your sister hit me first," Naomi mumbled, feeling a bit childish and pecking Emily's lips again, mood getting better with every second in the red-head's presence.

"Try," Emily whispered as she pulled away from Naomi, "Please try for me."

"I promise."

* * *

She didn't go home that night and avoided Katie the entire next day. Partly avoided Naomi as much as her heart would let her, but something jumped in her stomach at the thought that the blonde might actually let down her walls and let her in. She stayed with Effy for most of the day and paid very little attention in class, possibly not the smartest move seeing as she had Spanish; the subject she was falling further and further behind in.

She sat with Freddie and Effy all day, she owed the brunette so much right now. Effy was allowing her to crash at her house, Effy was keeping her secret deathly quiet, Effy was there for her to talk to and actually listened, unlike Katie who talked until your ears bled. So she threw Effy as many grateful looks and thankful smiles as she could remember to during the day.

The pair returned to Effy's that day after school.

"Get dressed," Effy said, throwing a garment at her, causing it to land on Emily's head and block the notes she was revising from her view.

"Dressed for what?" she asked irratibly.

"Emily, it's Tuesday."

So Emily wracked her brains for an inkling of what was supposed to be happening on Tuesday. Nothing. Her face remained blank.

"It's Naomi's gig tonight yeah?" Effy stated in a 'duh' kind of way.

Emily bit her lip in frustration. She couldn't be bothered going out tonight-wanted to stay in and at least try and get caught up with her work. But the blonde had promised to try for her, so she was going to make an effort to be at the gig.

Slightly reluctantly, she picked the top Effy had thrown at her and began changing.

She looked at herself self consciously in the tall mirror in Effy's room. Never had she shown so much skin before and wanted nothing more than to run and change into a baggy sweater and tracksuit bottoms. But she didn't, because Effy had said this outfit would make Naomi's jaw hit the floor, and Emily trusted Effy.

She wore a short black skirt, revealing a lot more thigh than she usually did, a black singlet top revealing a fair bit of cleavage and a black belt with a gold clasp around her waist, separating the top from the skirt and making it all look a bit like a dress. Effy had lent her a pair of black heel and handed her a series of gold chains and necklaces and gold bracelets to decorate herself with. If Emily let her more confident side out, she would admit she looked _quite_ nice.

She stood in front of that mirror for far longer than she meant to, only tearing herself away when she heard Effy calling her from downstairs that they were late and her mum would give them a lift down.

"Wow," Effy acknowledged her as she descended the stairs.

Emily shot her friend a shy smile as the hurried out the door.

* * *

She was late. Was she even coming? Was she pissed off at her for hitting Katie again? Shit, she was so nervous. She peaked out from side-stage again as she scanned the room for Emily. She checked the bar, the other tables, the queue for the toilets, before quickly scanning the table her friends had settled at. Cook threw her a thumbs up and Freddie nodded encouragingly at her. Pandora waved feverishly at her while Thomas threw her a wide grin. JJ glanced nervously in her direction and gave her one of his odd little head bobs, giving her a small smile. Katie was sitting examining her nails, and Naomi acknowledged the bruise forming on Katie's cheek with slight glee at the fact that, if examined closely enough, probably matched the shape of her hand. Her own bruise had covered easily with a bit of make-up and the cut on her lip, though stinging madly, was carefully hidden beneath red lipstick.

Her heart sank as she was signalled to go on in 5 minutes, with still not sign of Emily.

_She's not coming._

* * *

They manoeuvred their way between the tightly packed tables. Naomi was in the middle of a song, and judging by her ease on the stage, she was a few songs into her set. Emily felt bad that she was late, but at least she'd made it here. _Effort. _They sat, just as Naomi finished. Drinks were pushed in their direction, Effy having texted Freddie saying they'd be late and to get them a few drinks for when they arrived.

Naomi hadn't noticed her yet, her jaw hadn't hit the floor as Effy had predicted. _Yet. _Instead she launched into the next song without raising her eyes.

* * *

Emily hadn't seen her notice as she and Effy made their way through the cramped tables. She looked...amazing, with a tight top showing off her lovely chest and short skirt highlighting her perfect legs, but it was all Naomi could do to keep her jaw from hitting the floor and urged her fingers to continue playing as she tried to focus on the song she was playing. In the end she ended it quicker than she should have and began strumming out the chords of a song she hadn't planned to play. This song was totally for Emily, Naomi dedicated it to her in her head, just hoped that the red-head would catch on.

* * *

Emily felt her emotions surge as Naomi's sweet voice sounded throughout the bar, clearing her head of her worries, mainly the fact that Katie was ignoring her presence just as much as she was ignoring hers, as she absorbed the melodic lyrics protruding from the blondes mouth.

"_Our love was lost,  
but now we've found it.  
Our love was lost  
and hope was gone.  
Our love was lost,  
but now we've found it..."_

Emily saw Naomi raise her eyes and lock them with her own as she sang the next few lines. Saw each word reflected in the blonde's blue orbs and felt them ricochet around inside her head.

"_And if you flash you heart,  
I won't mistreat it..._

_I promise..."_

And Emily felt her heart swell because Naomi really was going to try. She could see it in her eyes before the blonde tore them away to focus on her guitar as she focused on belting out the chords of the interlude. Listened carefully as the next verses lyrics struck their own chord in her heart.

"_Your walls are up,  
too cold to touch yeah.  
Your walls are up,  
too high to climb.  
I know it's hard,  
but I can still hear it beating.  
So if you flash your heart,  
I won't mistreat it..."_

Naomi locked eyes with her once again, sincerity reflected in their depths. And Emily believed every word the blonde said, as if she was enforcing her promise from yesterday.

"_I promise."_

Katie's harsh voice cut threw Emily's thoughts.

"So Ems, you gonna stop being such a stupid prick and come home tonight?"

But Emily couldn't stand listening to her sister at that moment, and stood without answering. She felt Naomi's eyes watching her leave, heard Naomi cut the song short mid-lyric and mumble an apology and an excuse that she didn't catch. Didn't care about distracting Naomi from her song with her sudden departure, just had to be away from Katie.

* * *

Naomi finished her songs with another roof-lifting round of applause. She was happy that she was coming across so popularly to her audience but her mind was elsewhere as she opened the fire door side-stage and stepped outside to light up a fag. Upon hearing loud shouting she glanced to the top of the alley she was standing in to see Katie and Emily arguing rather heatedly and although she couldn't make out what they were saying, she could hear their shouts echoing through the night. She watched Emily turn and walk away and Katie running a clearly frustrated hand through her hair.

She just sat with the gang that night, didn't drink much. Katie didn't return, neither did Emily.

* * *

She felt lost, couldn't return home, couldn't return to the bar so she could go to Emily's. Just sat on the low wall outside Starbucks wiping her falling tears from her face and ignoring sleazy comments she got from greasy looking guys. Sat wondering when her life began falling to the pits. Wondering if Naomi was actually worth all the pain she was feeling right now.

She wrapped her jacket tighter around her as she felt her phone vibrate in her bag. She reluctantly rifled through the bag, expecting it to be from Katie telling her to 'wise up and come home'. She was pleasantly surprised to open a message from Naomi instead.

_**If you flash your heart, I won't mistreat it. I promise.**_

Emily smiled at the short quotation from the song Naomi had sang earlier on. Not a minute later her phone vibrated again and she opened up another text from Naomi.

_**By the way, you looked amazing tonight.**_

A stray tear rolled down her cheek as she read it.

_Definitely worth it._

* * *

**So please keep the reviews coming guys, you have no idea how much they motivate me! :D**

**Until next time...**

**Lots more fluffy moments between our favourite pair coming up now, I'm looking forward to writing it! Should be fun...**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm just going to let you all know, that I wrote this entire chapter with the reviews page open for this story, reading through all the wonderful words you guys have left me right from chapter 1 and I just want to say a big thanks to everyone, you know who you are! (;**

**Quite a light-hearted chapter this one, because I'm in a good mood.**

* * *

Chapter 11

She was sprinting towards college now, narrowly avoiding being hit by several cars in the early morning traffic. Never had she been so late for school before but her night had been rather sleepless and she accidentally slept through her alarm. She hurtled through the gates and up the path towards the glass double doors, hastily slamming them shut behind her and running towards her next class, checking the time as she did so.

Turned out she was only missing out on extended tutor class and incessant rambling and cursing from Keiran. She mumbled an apology as she burst through the classroom door, blonde hair and bags flying everywhere. She tried desperately to compose herself as she scanned the room for an empty seat whilst feeling the entire rooms occupant's eyes glued to her.

_Get a grip Naomi for fucks sakes._

Feeling her heartbeat increase at the sight of red hair sprawled across the desk at the back of the classroom, next to where she was standing, she pulled the chair back, wincing as it scraped against the floor, and collapsed in it still panting slightly from her hurry to get here.

It wasn't Emily who sat at the table however, and Naomi felt her heart sink at the thought she wasn't sat beside her favourite twin. Come to think of it, Emily wasn't present in the class today, nor had she replied to either of Naomi's texts, and Naomi felt herself instinctive worry and hated herself for becoming so soft. Katie just threw her a champion scowl and refocused her eyes to Keiran who was nattering on about one thing or another.

After a few minutes Katie turned to face her and Naomi took an opportunity to take in the twin's rather haggard appearance. She had dark bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept a wink. Her hair lacked its usual shine and was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her clothes remained as revealing as ever, although a lot less effort had been put in to making herself look like a slut. Naomi felt her face frown half in confusion, half in concern.

"Katie, what hap-" she began whispering but she was cut off.

"Emily didn't come home last night."

Naomi's expression remained blank. Truly, she was rather shocked. Didn't think Emily was the type of person to stay out all night and not go home, felt herself begin to worry again too. Katie pressed on.

"Do you know where she is?" she drawled out slowly.

Naomi shook her head in reply after Keiran shushed them from his desk at the front of the room.

"I saw you two arguing last night, what happened?"

"Oh, we just got into a fight, she said some things she didn't mean..." Katie tried to sound nonchalant, but Naomi noticed her voice harden by the end of that sentence.

"What happened Katie," she repeated sharply.

And Naomi watched as Katie deflated before her eyes, the dull twinkle in her eyes fading completely and her shoulders slumping in defeat, leaving her looking tired and worn. Her voice was a quiet, strangled whisper.

"Emily came out to me last night."

Naomi felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Hadn't expected Emily to take such a big step so quickly, nor Katie's reaction to it.

"And you think she didn't mean it?"

Katie contemplated for a moment, her eyes staring into the distance before her face contorted into a confused frown etched with pain.

"She wouldn't have said it if she didn't mean it," Naomi added softly.

She could see tears building behind Katie's eyes, and felt an odd need to comfort the girl who had made her life hell on earth 4 years ago and pretty much forced her to move to Spain. It's odd how the tables can turn.

Katie's voice shook slightly as she spoke even though, Naomi guessed, she was trying to hide it. And Naomi knew that 'Katie-the-bitch-Fitch' was all just a charade, a mask behind which hid the quaking shell of a girl who was genuinely concerned about her sister.

"I think I was too harsh on her. Told her she was an attention-seeking cow and she was jealous of me. I didn't mean it, I'm just..."

Katie paused to sigh deeply and press her fingers to her temples.

"I'm just afraid of losing her."

Naomi was awed at how open Katie was being with her. She who, two days ago, was the cause of the nasty looking bruise situated on Katie's left cheek.

There was silence between the pair once again, Keiran oblivious to their hushed heart-to-heart at the back of the room.

Katie punctuated it once again, her bitchy attitude returning, though not so convincingly.

"So it's you she came out for then? And you two are going to be lezzers together?"

Naomi felt slightly baffled by Katie's abruptness and hesitantly replied after a minutes pondering.

"Yes...and...no," was all she simply said.

It was quite amusing to see Katie's face contort in confusion as she weighed up the blonde's answer.

"What do you mean no? She wants to be with you yeah?"

"That doesn't make me gay, Katiekins," Naomi mocked in a sickly sweet voice.

Katie only glared daggers at her until she elaborated.

"'Lesbian' is a label isn't it? I don't believe in labels. I think we are but on this earth to find love, not choose it. Not decide we only like girls or we only like boys. Just welcome who we fall for with open arms and cherish it."

As she spoke she realised just how much her actions over the last few months had contradicted everything she believed in. She had pushed Emily away, denied any sort of feelings for her. Labelled herself 'straight', anything to keep love at bay.

_Love?_

Okay so love was a stretch, perhaps, but she knew Emily had a stronger hold on her that she was perhaps comfortable with. She kept her alarming thoughts at bay by watching Katie's reaction to her views.

Her face remained emotionless as she nodded her head once with a muttered, "That's fair enough." And Naomi smiled at the thought that things might get better with 'Katiekins' from now on. Perhaps an understanding, as such. All she knew was that she was starting to regret hitting Katie's face quite as hard as she did.

"If you hurt her I'll kill you," Katie threw over her shoulder as she left the room at the sound of the bell.

In fact, perhaps she was regretting hitting Katie at all.

* * *

She skipped the rest of her classes that afternoon. After joining Cook and the rest of the gang at lunchtime and managing to remain on civil terms with Katie she decided she needed to find the red-head she was yearning for most right now and sort some things out. Because Emily hadn't turned up at college all day and Naomi would be lying if she said she wasn't even a little worried.

She left at the end of lunch time, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she searched through her contacts for 'Emily', finger hovering above the call button for a brief moment before pressing and raising the phone to her ear.

Emily answered after the fifth ring, her voice sounding hoarse and tired and hollow all at once.

"_Hello?"_

"Emily are you ok?"

"_Fucking amazing Naomi, oh wait! I haven't slept a wink, nor have I been home in three days, do you think I'm ok."_

Naomi took a deep breath, Emily was allowed to snap just like that, she'd had a rough few days. When she was calm she spoke again.

"I uh, I was wondering if you wanted to meet up? You could come back to mines and shower, I could lend you clothes and you can get fixed up...or something..."

She felt increasingly stupid as she rambled on; inviting Emily to her house had felt like a good idea at the time, but seeing as they had barely spoken the past few days she now felt like an utter idiot.

Emily was silent for a few minutes and Naomi sat listening to her breathing gently down the phone.

"_I'm in the park."_

And the line went dead.

As if moving of their own accord, Naomi found her legs taking her, rather speedily, towards the park. It seemed ironic really, or was it just handy, that the park was almost evenly spaced smack bang in the middle of her college and her house.

It didn't take her long to spot Emily's flaming hair as the red-head sat, hunched over, on one of the benched overlooking the city. Puffing slightly from her uphill walk, and making a mental note to get into shape and maybe quit smoking, Naomi nestled herself down beside her, noticing Emily was shivering slightly.

She was pale and solemn looking; dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes and messy hair and clothing. She looked pathetic in comparison to the bubbly, bright Emily Naomi wanted her to be. Still, Naomi felt herself want to take the smaller girl's pains and troubles away and instinctively felt her hand rest lightly on top of the red-head's.

Eventually, Emily intertwined their fingers loosely and they sat in silence until it became too much for Naomi.

"So, I spoke to Katie today."

She felt Emily's hand contract against her own as she took in the statement. But the girl remained silent and Naomi took the opportunity to press on.

"She's a right state about you Ems."

_Ems? EMS? Where the hell did that come from again? Oh yeah you've called her this before, relax._

Emily still kept her eyes trained on the scenery in front of her, but began slowly tracing her thumb up and down the side of Naomi's hand, causing jolts of excitement and energy to shoot up the blonde's arm. Unable to stand the close proximity to the girl, _girl,_ that was causing funny feelings in her lower abdomen, Naomi stood, pulling Emily up with her.

"C'mon, were going back to mine."

* * *

She didn't register where Naomi was taking her, her mind was both too far away in thought and unresponsive from lack of sleep. Sooner that she expected she was shivering at the blonde's front door while Naomi rifled about in her bad for her key.

Once the door was unlocked, she was trailed upstairs and down a hall and through a door until she was standing rather awkwardly in Naomi's bedroom. Her mind was still too far away to register what the blonde was doing, or what her surroundings looked like but she jumped when a towel was thrown at her, landing on her head and Naomi was mouthing words at her that weren't sinking in.

Instead the blonde led her to a bathroom and sat her on the closed toilet lid while she began turning on the shower and heating the water, running her hand under it every so often and adjusting the knobs on the wall until it was just the right temperature at the room was beginning to fill with steam. At last, words began registering in Emily's brain as she watching the lusciously hot water cascading down.

"Well, I'll eh...I'll leave you to it," Naomi said awkwardly, retreating from the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Emily stood and stripped from her clothing with trembling fingers. Her jacket had not really been enough to keep her warm in addition to the little clothing Effy had dressed her in for Naomi's gig. So the shower was like heaven as the hot water eased the coldness she feared she'd be feeling forever, calming her trembling and relaxing her completely. She washed her hair and her body and just stood under the hot jets of water for what felt like years, even though in reality her shower had taken all but half an hour.

She stepped out, dripping wet, feeling the chill starting to return to her as the hot water was turned off. She dried herself off and wrapped herself in the towel again, picking her clothes off the floor and slowly making her way back to Naomi's room, getting lost in the hallway and standing like a total idiot by the top of the stairs, eying each door in front of her with confusion etched on her face.

Naomi emerged from the door on her far left, eyes widening at the sight of her covered in a simple towel that still showed off too much of her leg than Emily wanted it to. She felt butterflies spark in her stomach at being able to make Naomi seem so flustered but she was too tired to really care and decided she would reflect on it when her head was a bit clearer.

She followed Naomi back into the room she had just emerged on, retrieving her own bra and underpants from the pile of clothes she had collected from the bathroom floor while Naomi threw and t-shirt and a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms at her, before leaving the room to allow her to change.

She slipped out of the room, now fully clothed and feeling a bit warmer and, upon hearing Naomi rustling about in what she presumed was the kitchen, headed downstairs. Sure enough, the blonde was setting about making two cups of steaming coffee, placing on cup in front of her as she took a seat at the large wooden table. She stared at the deep brown liquid for a few seconds before lifting her eyes to Naomi who was staring at her intently.

"I don't drink coffee."

Naomi sent her a small smile.

"Have you even tried it?"

So Emily lifted the mug, raised it to her lips as took a small sip, feeling the hot liquid burn down her throat and warming her instantly. Coffee tasted strange, and she cringed at it at first, before smacking her lips together a few times and finding that she quite enjoyed the aftertaste it left. She was at a loss of how to describe the taste, taking another sip, torn between bitter and musty, and discovering that she quite liked it.

She felt her eyelids drooping.

"You ok Ems?" Naomi asked, eyeing her closing eyes warily.

"Hmm," was all she mustered, blinking heavily a few times in an attempt to keep her eyes open. This was deemed futile as she felt them drooping again and all she registered was the sound of a scraping chair, warm arms encircling her and the softness of warm covers over her as she fell into a blissful slumber.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open and she felt more refreshed than she had in a long while. She observed a painted white roof above her head before quietly sitting up and observing her surroundings. The walls surrounding her were painted a creamy colour, the far wall opposite the door painted a bright yellow with a green sink. The duvet she was wrapped in was a deep pinky-red colour that she couldn't find a name for and there was an orange curtain shielding the faint light coming from a street lamp in the dying daylight. The room was oddly mismatched but at the same time in perfect sync with the posters and photo's lining the walls and clothes slung over the odd chair lying around and books scattering a vanity table pressed up against the wall. The whole room screamed 'Naomi Campbell' who was leaning back in a swivel chair, turning slightly from side to side, biting the end of a pen in concentration, books lying open in front of her on the desk she was sitting at.

She had her back to Emily, and so didn't notice the red-head watching her until she pushed off the desk with her foot, causing the chair to spin in a complete circle, eyes widening as they passed the watching girl, before she swivelled halfway round again to observer her, a sheepish grin plastered on her face.

"Nice," Emily mocked.

Naomi only smirked back at her before her face fell back into a soft smile.

"You sleep ok?"

Emily blushed upon realising she had been asleep in the blonde's bed for what appeared to be hours by the look of the diminishing light outside.

"Thank you," was all she managed to say because, although extremely grateful towards the blonde right now, there was an awkward tension establishing itself in the room between the two girls once again.

"Does Katie know where I am?"

"I texted her saying you were at mine-I got her number off Cook-," as Emily opened her mouth to ask how in the world the blonde had managed to get her sisters number, "I told her to cover for you, told her to say that you'd stayed at a friend's house last night and you'd forgotten some things and you were going back to pick them up and-,"

"That was clever," Emily interjected. Naomi shone her a grateful smile.

"-and told her I'd send you home once you were awake."

Emily's smile faded. Hesitantly and reluctantly, she untangled herself from Naomi's bed sheets, taking a brief moment to laugh at the pig t-shirt she was wearing, and looking around for her shoes which, she realised in horror, where rather fucking high high-heels.

Naomi slid a pair of white canvas shoes towards her, the ones everyone buys out of Primark _(how very cliché of you Campbell)_ and a pair of thick socks. Emily was beyond grateful and Naomi packed all her clothes into a white plastic bag and handed her a jumper claiming it was 'getting chilly outside'.

Dressed and downstairs, Emily stood slightly awkwardly in front of Naomi, looking for a way to sum up all her gratitude but settling on a simple kiss on the cheek and Naomi opened the door and she stepped out into the, indeed, 'chilly' night.

* * *

Naomi stood at the door, watching Emily's retreating back while absent-mindedly allowing her fingers to trace the spot where Emily had kissed her. Her mum appeared at the bottom of the steps and hurried up them and into the house, uttering an "Alright love?" and she passed Naomi in a hurry to be out of the cold.

Naomi barely registered her, fingers still touching the spot on her cheek where Emily's lips had been just a few short moments ago. She shut the door and returned upstairs in an almost dream-like state a small smile forming on her face. She retook her position at her desk, twirling in the chair and trying to concentrate. Apparently it wasn't to be and she ended up slamming the books closed and changing into a large, white t-shirt proclaiming 'Love music, Hate racism' in big, black letters.

Climbing into bed she buried her head into her pillows, pulling her duvet right up to her neck and wondering, and she inhaled the scent of the red-head, when and how she became so inebriated with Emily Fitch.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter guys, I'm wondering if any of you picked up on the reference to the t-shirt Naomi wears while in bed at the start of Episode 2 of season 4? Well I have the exact same t-shirt except in purple and yellow so I thought I'd include it because it's just so...'Naomi' wouldn't you say?**

**Anyways reviews are always appreciated! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks again for reviews! :D**

**Eww, so I started back school today and it's going to be a tough year because I have important exams at the end of it, GCSE's. Unfortunately that means updates will be less frequent because my workload is going to be sky high...not fun!**

**Anyhows thought I'd update now because Im going to a mates house, party time! :D**

Chapter 12

She was trying to concentrate, she really was, but all she had managed to scribble onto her page was a sort-of diagram illustrating her 'journey', as such, with Emily.

Naomi sat in the empty common room, well empty bar three or four students huddled around books in the far corner of the room. She twisted her pen between her fingers, biting the end as she looked over all she had managed to doodle onto her page that was by now supposed to be filled with English coursework on Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. It somewhat resembled a mind map she supposed.

Under the date and title was a small heart that had been traced over and over again until the dark blue ink was almost back and there was an indentation of it on the reverse side of the page.

Underneath that was written '_Naomi + Emily'_ and Naomi wondered when she had become so amazingly soft and sappy.

There was an arrow protruding from Emily's name pointing to where she had written '_Refusal of the truth'_ because Emily had denied on several occasions being gay when she quite so clearly was, and at least now she was partially 'outed'.

A couple of lines below that she had scribbled '_Hidden Feelings' _because she now admitted that she had locked any sort of feeling for Emily away and pretended feelings with Cook and other guys in the hope they might disappear. They hadn't. Instead they had been pushing against her walls, as they had the first time their lips met when they were twelve, and had forced a small crack in her charade and wiggled their way out into the open.

Further down the page was '_awkward silences'_ which could be cut with a knife when she and Emily had nothing more to say and the tension sunk in. Naomi wished briefly that she knew a way to fix it because she was beginning to enjoy spending time with Emily.

Around the words, the odd smiley face or flower or 3D box was doodled and as she finished outlining the edges of the latest addition to the page-a heart with a cupid's arrow shot through it-she scrunched the paper up and threw it into the bin on her left. She was Naomi fucking Campbell and she didn't get all soppy and girly when it came to relationships. She wasn't the kind of girl who doodles hearts on her fucking coursework.

_Oh Emily, look what you've done to me._

She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, her face falling to a frown as she thought of ways to start writing her actual English coursework, but to no avail. Instead she felt a grin grow on her face as the bell rang and she raised her eyes to see Emily enter the common room and make her way over to her.

"So I've got an absolute shit-load of Spanish work to get finished and I was wondering if you could give me a hand?" she asked as she planted herself on the empty chair beside Naomi.

"Because you like giving hand don't you Naomi?" Katie laughed as she passed.

Naomi winced. Katie was being decent, at a stretch Naomi would say she was kind of great about the whole thing...apart from when she passed comments like that, because Naomi wasn't sure if she was ready for that kind of thing. Wasn't sure if she could laugh along with the jokes rather than be the subject of them.

"Yeah I can help out," she replied as she watched Emily pull books and pens and paper from her bag.

They sat in adoringly close proximity to each other, heads bent over books so close that Naomi could probably count the non-existent freckles on Emily's porcelain skin. They laughed and joked and Naomi had never felt such a rush around anyone other than her.

She began doodling on her page again, unconsciously, as she watched Emily writing every so often. She pointed out the odd mistake Emily made but, apart from one or two bloopers, the red-heads Spanish was beginning to improve. She shot Emily a congratulatory smile when they finished, packing up her things and allowing her eyes to fall the page she had once again doodled all over.

And what she had subconsciously written made her heart freeze as Cook, who had been sitting on the sofa's with JJ and Effy, got to his feet and headed to the door announcing, "I'm off for a smoke, you coming Naomi babe? You soon will be...".

_Shit._

She had forgotten to tell Cook to downplay their relationship now that something was starting with Emily. Emily who was now frozen by her side, eyes wide with shock, hand frozen halfway between her bag and her book.

"I thought you were trying for _me_," she whispered quietly, "Haven't you broken it off with him yet?"

Hurt was laced through her voice, and it was too much for Naomi to handle right now. Between what was scribbled on the page and what Cook had shouted and Emily's reaction it felt as if everything was closing in on her and she had to get out of here. She saw Emily glance at her from the corner of her eye, but her focus remained on the small words printed on the page.

She snatched her bag from the floor, forgetting completely about the page lying on the table as she made her way out of the common room. She felt like an idiot, she was walking away from Emily _again_ and she hated herself for it but this was a bit much, what she was feeling was a bit too much right now.

* * *

Emily sat shell shocked at how the afternoon had played out. Shocked at how she was having so much fun with Naomi one minute, to feeling like their relationship, if that's what you would call it, was crashing down round her ankles once again.

Shocked at how something had made Naomi freeze rigid, even before Cook had called over to her, and that only made her freeze, if possible, even more. Emily had never seen someone get so worked up about something so quickly.

Shocked at how Naomi could possibly promise to try for her and not even think about dumping Cook, despite it being nearly a week since they had sorted this. A week of spending amazing time with her and then probably running of and shagging Cook somewhere. It was kind of sickening her.

And with that she slammed the last of her books closed, rising to her feet as she crammed them into her bag, picking up any pens and sheets of paper from the table and shoving them in too as she stormed out of the common room in a true Katie-like fashion.

Naomi didn't return to college that afternoon, so Emily buried herself in work once again, feeling pleased that the pile of unfinished work smothering her was beginning to decrease. Every so often her mind flicked to the blonde and Emily realised that she was probably out of order to be getting so worked up about this; she and Naomi weren't a couple, Naomi and Cook were. She wanted to try for something with Naomi and Naomi promised to try for her too, but Naomi was still with Cook and, even though she wasn't 'doing' anything as such with Naomi apart from the three kisses they had shared in the past, Emily just didn't want Cook in the equation at all. It was possibly unreasonable, asking Naomi to break up with Cook, risk breaking his heart; because Cook was _with_ Naomi and he just didn't look like a 'one girl' kind of guy so there must have been something about the blonde that was keeping him with her. She didn't blame him, Naomi was very beautiful, and funny and witty and genuine when she wanted to be and...

_Shut up NOW Emily!_

Basically she just couldn't stand the thought of his hands on Naomi they way she dreamed her could be. Couldn't stand the thought that the blonde still belonged to someone else.

Shaking the thoughts away, she tried to throw herself back into her work but found her eyes watching the clock tick the day away and reasoned that she had did enough work for one day as she tidied her books into her bag and left the college.

Katie wasn't coming home that night, leaving Emily to cover for her while she was no doubt shagging some air head footballer, Danny she thought his name was. She didn't mind, she enjoyed the peacefulness of the quiet house and Katie was still acting slightly awkwardly about her being gay although things were not as bad at home as she had expected as she left Naomi's last week.

_Aw shit._

Now her mind was on Naomi _again._ The blonde was like the plague, _can't fucking get rid of it and wanting to avoid it at all costs. _But Emily was aware that the girl still infatuated her mind, no matter how pissed at her she was and eventually gave up and lay on her bed with thoughts of the blonde driving her crazy. She sighed and placed her palms against her eyes, trying to clear her head.

_No chance of that happening Emzy._

* * *

Naomi stood outside the college accommodation, her eyes glued to the window where she knew Cook's room was. She knew she had to end this charade now before more damage was done between herself and Emily, between herself and Cook as well. Because she knew Cook, and she knew him well and she feared that he might get _'too attached' _to theidea of them being together. They were supposed to be in love, '_and first love is the hardest to get over'_ she thought to herself. She would know; she was still infatuated with anything red.

_Whoa! Where did that come from?_

Pushing all thoughts from her mind she pushed open the glass double door and climbed the staircase and found herself outside Cook's room far quicker than she expected. She realised her hand was shaking as she raised it to knock on the door.

_Knock knock._

Cook answered almost immediately, boxers poking out above his trousers and no t-shirt to hide is many tattoos.

"Naomikins, what a pleasant surprise!"

He grinned at her before ushering her inside.

The room was slightly hazy with smoke and smelled like weed and alcohol. She sat gingerly at the edge of his bed as she shuffled through piles of clothes scattered about the floor. Eventually he pulled a clean looking red polo shirt over his head, popping the collar and spraying under his arms with 'man-smell' which was basically a can of Lynx deodorant. When he was finished he turned to face her.

"So Blondie, babe, what can I diddly do for yah?"

Naomi swallowed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"We have to stop this Cook."

His face fell a fraction.

"Stop what?"

"This," she guestured between them with her hands, "This pretending to love eachother."

"But I do love you Naomikins, probably a little differently from the loving that goes on in that bed," he added with a wink and Naomi jumped to her feet, "but it's loving all the same."

"Please Cook," Naomi begged, desperation evident in her choked voice.

"Aw but babe, we haven't even shagged yet," he laughed thrusting his hips a little for effect.

"You're my best friend," she replied simply, walking to the door so that she didn't have to see his face contort to a frown. "See you later, yeah?"

With one hand on the door handle, she felt Cook wrap his arms around her abdomen and hug her from behind.

"It's about time you let Little Red into your heart Blondie," he mumbled quietly, and Naomi had to strain her ears to hear him say it but she heart it none the less.

She was about to reply and ask him what the fuck he was talking about but he opened the door and shoved her playfully out, happy-go-lucky mood returning.

"Well your company is always a pleasure Naoms, but I'm waiting for someone with a little more satisfaction," he laughed grabbing his crotch as he did so. Naomi rolled her eyes as she left, giving him a small kiss on the cheek beforehand.

* * *

The week passed with no real excitement and Emily found herself hoping beyond hope that the weekend didn't follow suit. She stood, feeling a lot like a spare wheel, with Katie who was sucking the face off her new boyfriend, Danny, who played for Bristol Rover's reserves and drove a horrible yellow convertable. He was a bit of a tit and Emily didn't know what Katie saw in him.

"Emily! EMILY!"

She glanced up to the top of the queue and saw Thomas shouting and waving to her excitedly. She prodded Katie hard in the back as she shimmied through the dense crowd, hearing Katie sigh and follow behind her.

"Friends always get in for free," Thomas grinned at them, before his eyes shifted to somewhere over Emily's shoulder.

"Freddie, JJ, Effy! Come, friends don't pay!"

Freddie, Jay and Effy managed to scramble through the multitude of waiting bodies, and Emily heard a few people complaining as they approached.

Thomas was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"This is going to be so great! You are all here, Pandora is coming and Cook and Naomi are already inside."

Emily felt her stomach jump slightly but suddenly found herself eager to get inside the club.

"Come on then," she tried to call nonchalantly pulling Katie in behind her as she entered into the dark club.

It was quite a decent club, dark walls and sofas scattered about. There were booths and a bar and a wide dance floor illuminated by bright spotlights flashing all over. Emily headed straight for a large, comfy looking leather sofa, while Katie went to the bar for drinks. She plopped herself down and was joined by JJ and Freddie. Thomas had disappeared into the throng of dancers, no doubt preparing to play his set and Effy could be seen leaving the bar heading towards them carrying several rounds of shots.

She sat and pushed three shots towards each person, except JJ who didn't drink because of his meds, leaving three in front of Katie's empty seat. She hadn't returned from the bar yet, no doubt become distracted by Danny or some other bloke.

Effy mumbled a quite "Cheers" holding her shot glass up before downing it.

Emily followed suit, downing one shot after another, welcoming the burning sensation in her throat but still wincing slightly.

"Christ Ems, slow down," Katie shouted over the din of music as she returned with two double vodka and coke's.

Emily didn't listen and had soon finished the drink as well.

She was happy sitting on the sofa, until Katie and Danny were practically having sex beside her, something she really didn't want to see, so she removed herself from the comfort of the leather couch and joined Effy on the dance floor.

She soon spotted a mass of blonde hair and saw Naomi bouncing around with Cook, laughing and dancing. She felt a spit of envy rise in her stomach and figured the two couldn't possibly have broken up and still get on like best mates. Her fears were confirmed as Cook stuck his tongue out at her and she quickly leaned in and kissed him. It was brief but it made Emily's stomach boil over with anger. She wasn't trying.

Effy nudged her, and she averted her attention to the brunette who had just placed a pill in her mouth. She stuck her tongue out, revealing the pill resting on the end of it and indicated to Emily with her hands. Emily merely looked at her confused until Effy pulled her forwards and latched her mouth onto hers. She felt the brunettes tongue slip into her mouth and transfer the pill to her and she suddenly understood what Effy had meant.

She smiled against the brunette's lips as she swallowed the pill and almost immediately felt it start to kick in. Out of the corner of her eye she was Naomi watching them, a strange expression on her face. Instinctively, she tried to push Effy off, but she only felt Effy's arms encircle her waist and pull her closer. She pushed harder as Effy's hands settled on her ass until her lips left hers and she glared angrily into the girls blue eyes.

"What the fuck Effy," she screamed over the music.

"She loves you too," Effy replied simply, cocking her head slightly in the direction of Naomi's retreating back.

* * *

She couldn't stand it, couldn't stand seeing Emily's lips on another's. On fucking Effy's! Naomi felt her fists shake with anger and shock as she rested her head against the cool wall outside the club. She understood Emily's reaction to Cook better now that she had experienced it herself. It felt shit imagining her with someone else, totally shit.

The back door flew open as red hair emerged. Naomi busied herself lighting a fag, offering it silently to Emily who was also trying to look nonchalant.

"Bit hot in there," she said after returning the cigarette, fanning herself with a hand.

Naomi silently nodded her head in reply. She was trying to think of a sentence to say to Emily but the large mixture of drugs and alcohol floating around inside her was making a coherent sentence hard to come by.

"So you and Cook..." Emily began unsteadily.

"So you and Effy," she shot back with a frown.

"Have you bro-"

"What do you want Emily?" Naomi cut her off. Didn't want to go over this right now. Didn't want to make her hazy mind think of an excuse for kissing Cook if she told Emily they had broken up. Didn't want to admit Cook was only passing her a pill if Emily was going around kissing Effy.

"I want the truth Naomi," she stated firmly, if not a little drunkenly.

"The truth?" Naomi replied, feeling unjustified anger building in her as she thought back on Effy and Emily, "The fucking truth is, Emily, that you scare the fucking shit clean out of me. That I don't want to be as completely obsessed with you as I am but I can't help it and I'm fucking scared."

The words were spilling out of her now, and she couldn't stop it. Some say that alcohol is the greatest teller of truth, and Naomi was going all out now.

"So I pretended to have some fling with Cook to make you stay away, make these feelings disappear. He was only too happy to help, he's my best fucking friend but..."

This time Emily cut her off.

"You _pretended_? You weren't _actually seeing_ him?"

Her voice was hard but her eyes were hurt. Naomi could read her eyes. They were now hinting building anger.

_Shit._

"Well fuck you Naomi," and the door slammed shut, leaving Naomi alone in the stillness.

* * *

She cried. She went into the club toilets and she cried. Locked herself in a cubicle and didn't care about the masses or girls practically pissing their pants as they waited for one less free toilet. Didn't care if anyone heard her either. She just let it all out.

After feeling as though she had cried every ounce of bodily fluid she possessed from her system, she unlocked the door and staggered slightly towards the mirrors. She studied her appearance closely. She looked a mess.

Her hair was no longer straight, waving slightly, probably from all the dancing. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her make-up become patchy and dark trails of mascara ran from her eyes down her cheeks. She sighed as she splashed water on her face, clearing the messy make-up off and carefully reapplying it as she unloaded it from her bag.

She looked slightly better, but she still felt like a bag of crap.

She had been lied to and Naomi was a coward. She had pushed her away in an attempt to save her own heart from aching but had really made a mess of everything as Emily winced at every painful thump of her own heart against her ribs. She felt pathetic and broken by a girl she had shared next to nothing with. But there had always been something about Naomi that had her immediate attention and that, mixed with Naomi's confession of feelings and Effy's statement of "She loves you too," was causing her head to swim as she left the bathroom.

She saw Cook sat in the hallway outside the loo's, blood dribbling from his nose and a bruise forming under his left eye. Freddie was crouched over him, examining his injuries while JJ looked on helplessly.

"Cook, you alright mate?" Freddie asked, concerned.

Cook merely laughed his annoying laugh, rolling his head from side to side. He spotted her standing frozen in the hall.

"Emilio man!" he called.

She ducked her head in an attempt to avoid his attention as she scooted past but her called out her her.

"Emily she loves you, you know."

She froze again, turning to face Cook again.

"What?"

"She loves you. But she can't stand it. Can't stand the love she feels so she pretended she was fucking me instead."

She flinched at how crude he was being but he didn't notice. Instead he let out a bitter laugh.

"She used me and I let her...but she doesn't want me anymore..."

He rested his head on the wall behind him and became silent and Emily left the club, now with Cook's drunken admission, Naomi's feeling's and Effy's statement swirling around in her head and making her feel sick, along with the vast amounts of alcohol and pills currently moving through her system. She realised she was a lot drunker than she first thought as she staggered into the night.

She paused as she walked home and threw up in the gutter, hoping that tonight's events leave her as well as the contents in her stomach. Hoping but not believing. Just knowing that she is going to have a massive hangover in the morning.

* * *

**Thoughts please guys, you know I love them! :D**

**Have a great weekend!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Big thanks again for reviews! :D**

**Hope you all had a good weekend? I had an amazing one, hopefully incorporate some of my misdeeds into a chapter or two? Hehe.**

**Anyway, onwards says I. Beginning to feel uncertain of where to take this but hopefully I'll figure something decent out!**

Chapter 13

Naomi Campbell, world's biggest fuck-up, reporting for duty.

She stared miserably out the window for what felt like hours, reflecting on the past few months events and watching them replay over and over and over, making her stomach squirm, making her feel like an even bigger dick than she already felt.

She didn't care that there was a half finished Politics paper sitting in front of her, or that the clock at the front of the room was ticking away the time she had to finish it, her mind was just lost as she watched the December rain beating down against the window, bouncing off the ground and washing away everything in its path. She wished it would wash away this despair she was feeling, maybe just wash her away completely because maybe then she wouldn't look into the hardness of Emily's eyes or witness her blanking her completely.

But Emily had every right to be upset at her, what she had done was pathetic and cowardly and she felt sick when she thought about all the ways she had tried to block Emily out of her life, and even when she tried to let the red-head in, she just couldn't let go of the safety net of lies she had built up around her.

Ironic really that the walls she had built up around her to stop herself getting hurt and crumbled and crushed her, hurt her.

She felt pathetically helpless and she hated it. Hated that Emily had such a hold on her, hated that she had allowed Emily to wriggle into her heart in the past few weeks. Because there was no denying it, her heart ached as if Emily had set a fire within it, allowing it to burn her from the inside out. But she felt numb and she didn't understand why.

Because if she had refused to let Emily in, held her at arm's length, acted a total cow to her, then why was her heart telling her all these confusing emotions? What's more why was it telling her them now, when Emily wouldn't even look at her?

She still felt numb. Numb...and she had lost Emily...and she refused to talk to Cook these days.

Worryingly, Naomi's mind kept wandering back to her confession at the club, before the shit hit the fan and splattered all over her. Wandering back to the sparkle in Emily's eyes as the words left her mouth disappearing as the truth also made itself known. Wandering back to the echo of the slamming door reverberating around her as she stood in stunned silence, alone.

She was shocked at how this seemed to be affecting her, she didn't fall for people. She just didn't. Where there were emotions, there was heartache and she had always planned on saving herself from heartache. Now her heart ached more than ever.

She was shook from her trance rather forcefully but the loud examiners voice, calling that they had twenty minutes left to finish the paper. She muttered cursed as she took in the number of questions she still had left to answer, shocked at how much of the paper she had actually completed, scribbled in the last few answered and spent the last ten minutes of exam time resuming her dismal window-gazing.

She was one of the last to leave the room after the bell sounded, listening to the other students asking about different answers to different questions asked in the paper, some different to her own. They were wrong, she was good at politics, her answers were right.

She was ambushed by none other than Katie Fitch in the hallway, and was trailed into an empty classroom. She didn't care. Katie could hit her; she was still feeling a bit numb so she probably wouldn't feel it. Maybe Katie could punch some feeling back into her, knock some sense in along with it.

Katie flung her into the room and shut the door behind her. Naomi perched herself on the edge of a desk at the front of the room as Katie approached her.

"Remember I told you I'd kill you if you hurt her?" Katie asked approaching a shell shocked Naomi.

She nodded mutely and braced herself for the smack of Katie's palm colliding with her face but it never came. Instead Katie's voice, laced with concern, echoed softly in her brain.

"Well I would, but you look like the shit, girl."

Naomi raised her eyes from her shoelaces, up to Katie's concerned face. She waited for the twin to continue.

"And even I know that a look of guilt like that," she gestured to Naomi, "is bad crack."

There was a short pause.

"So, out with it. What did you do to my sister that has you both such miserable gits."

And Naomi told her. Unsure why because she feared deep down Katie might realise just how much of a twat she'd been to her twin and fulfil that promise to kill her.

But her only interruption came from Katie's shocked "Cook?" at the mention of her best friend. And when the story was finished Katie just stared at her. Didn't look like a shadow of the bitch she usually acted. Naomi wondered when, how and why she'd changed so suddenly.

"Well, fix it then. Now I've got thing's to see, boys to do," she called as she turned to leave.

Naomi stared at her retreating back for a moment.

"Why are you being nice to me Katie?"

Katie paused, hand reaching for the door handle.

"Because Emily might not know this, but I know her and I know when she is happy. And for some weird and wonderful reason she seemed to be happiest around you. So for fucks sake, stop moping around and go get her would you? Before I fucking make you because she's a right moody bitch these days."

And with that Katie left her in the empty classroom, the door shutting behind her with a click.

* * *

Three weeks. Nearly three weeks since she had last spoken with Naomi.

And it was torture.

Because for whatever fucked up reason the blonde had for even thinking about trying to pull off the stupid 'Cook-is-my-boyfriend' charade they had going, Naomi had feelings for her and she'd finally admitted that to her. It made her heart flutter slightly whenever she recalled her words.

"_I don't want to be as completely obsessed with you as I am but I can't help it and I'm fucking scared."_

Her stomach did another flip as the statement raced through her mind.

But for every stomach flip and heart flutter came boiling anger because Naomi Campbell was a fucking coward who used her best friend to avoid her, avoid feelings and avoid hurt. And had unconsciously succeeded in breaking Emily's heart almost clean in two because she had fallen for her hard and fast and had been for four long years.

"Fuck her," Emily sighed as she slammed the college door's shut behind her, stepping out in the dismal mid-December rain.

She got home soaked and shaking, dumping her bag in the hall as she awkwardly climbed the stairs in her sodden clothes. She changed into a pair of thick, grey Nike jogging bottoms, and a large, white baggy t-shirt that was probably one of the tight ones her dad would wear.

Running a hand through her damp hair she entered the kitchen and flicked on the kettle, setting a tea bag in a mug and the carton of milk alongside it. She searched the cutlery drawer for a spoon and returned to the kettle just as it boiled and set about making a steaming mug of tea.

One.

Two.

Three sugars.

Because tea was so blatantly bland and boring that it took three sugars for her to actually enjoy it. _So what I have a sweet tooth, bite me!_

Still in the abysmal mood she'd been in for the past three weeks, although the tea made her shiver a bit less and relax a tad more, she began flicking through the shitty mid-afternoon TV before reluctantly settling on watching 'Deal or No Deal' and wondering briefly where Katie had got to.

Her twin hustled through the door a few hours later, she too soaked and windswept but sporting a silly grin on her face that was beginning to piss Emily off.

"You win the lottery?" She quipped.

Katie's smile did not falter.

"Get a face lift or something?"

Still Katie didn't bat an eyelid. Emily exhaled loudly.

"Alright, who is he?"

"Oh, just...just a, no one," Katie tried to sound nonchalant but Emily knew her twin too well. Knew when it was something more than a meaningless shag. But the thought that her sister was being 'loved-up' while she was positively heartbroken just seemed to trod on her mood even further and she was in no mood for Katie's goofy happy mood right now.

"Well by the look on your face he must have been a fantastic fucking shag," she spat as she removed herself from the sofa and slammed the living room door behind her. That made Katie's smile disappear.

Of course it was out of order and she automatically felt bad for tarnishing Katie's good mood but she couldn't help it, basically because she was far too moody to be happy for her twin. Didn't want to be the only sulky bitch in the house so she was trailing Katie down with her. They could be sulky bitches together that way. Everything together.

As she collapsed onto her bed with a sigh she heard Katie's muffled footsteps on the carpet outside her bedroom.

"You can come in you know," she called at the closed door.

"You promise you won't, like, bite my head off or something?" Katie quipped from the other side of the threshold.

"Get in here Katie," she sighed. She guessed she hadn't noticed just how much of an asshole she's been these last few weeks.

Katie opens the door somewhat gingerly. Emily smirks because usually she is the small, nervous quiet twin while Katie stomps around getting her way. It's funny how the roles have been reversed suddenly.

"Emsy, whatever happened," Katie soothed, "I'm sure it's something you can work on, yeah?"

"Katie," she began, shrugging off her sisters comfort, "I can't...I can't."

"Why not?"

And Emily paused to think about it. Why couldn't she forgive Naomi and work past this? Possibly because she was too damn stubborn. Holding a grudge was easier than sorting things out. Decided making a mountain out of a molehill was the answer, rather than bucking up and facing the music.

Speaking of music, Naomi had a gig tonight. Well, she would certainly not be attending.

"Get dressed," Katie ordered, flicking through drawers of clothes and holding the occasional top up against her and looking at it in the mirror. _Some things never change._

"What for?" she questioned. She had absolutely no plans to go out tonight.

"For the gig, look I don't care if you're not talking to the bitch, there's free drink and we're going."

Case closed then. What Katie says goes. So Emily reluctantly found herself searching for an outfit in the piles of clothes littering their drawers and wardrobe. Unlike Katie, who was dressed in as short a skirt as ever, Emily was only too conscious of the chilly winter weather raging against her bedroom window and settled on denim skinny-ish, straight leg jeans, a white vest-top and an off-the-shoulder purple jumper and purple converse. Make up was minimal because she really couldn't be bothered. A bit of eye shadow, eye liner, mascara and lipstick was all she applied. She stood at the bottom of the stairs with arms crossed, tapping her foot as she waited for Katie to finish getting ready.

Her twin appeared, after what felt like hours, looking rather magnificent. Even for her standards. Her black skirt was as short as ever, although she had seen some sense and worn a pair of tights under it, her top was also black and baggy and rested on one shoulder but her figure was highlighted by the gold, elasticised belt around her waist.

"I see you made and effort," Emily stated, slightly baffled by her sisters appearance.

Katie looked her up and down.

"I see you havn't."

'_Fuck it' says I._

They disappeared, although Emily rather unwillingly, into the dark winter night.

* * *

She wanted Emily to be there, kind of needed Emily to be there. She had a song she wanted the red-head to hear, needed the red-head to hear.

She'd found it whilst running through her more depressing stuff on her iTunes, searching for songs to play tonight. Because, naturally, her mood had been shit and she was pouring her emotions out through emotive music. But one song had highlighted everything that had happened in the past few weeks, if not months and summed it up into three words she desperately wanted to scream at Emiy.

No not those three words, these three words.

'_I'm not perfect.'_

There, see? Easy. She wasn't perfect, far from it actually. But she wanted with all her depressed heart for Emily to know that and take her as she was anyway. Didn't have the balls to say it to her face, but she wanted Emily to know it none-the-less.

She drew out a shaky breath as she watched the clock tick closer to her moment to take the spotlight. Her reception at this place had almost overwhelmed her, and as thrilled as she was to be such a crowd-pleaser, nothing could ever calm her pre-performance nerves. _Except Emily, that first time..._

She flinched and told her brain to put a cork in it.

Picking up her guitar, she began plucking away at the strings, warming up her fingers and trying to dissolve some of the butterflies in her stomach. She sat on a grotty looking chair near the fire exit as she rehearsed some of the songs she planned to play tonight.

Of course, not all the songs she was playing tonight were depressing, just the one she wanted to Emily to hear, and even that was a stretch, but she couldn't have her crowd thinking she was a miserable git so she focused on making her voice sound happier as she practised the lyrics. She knew it would sound rather substantially happier as soon as she glimpsed red hair at the group's usual table. _If_ she spotted red hair. Emily didn't have to come if she didn't want to. She wasn't even speaking to the blonde. Naomi just hoped Katie had managed to persuade her.

Stepping out into the spotlight to her usual spot centre stage her she felt her nerves calm almost immediately as she spotted Katie and Emily sat with the group. Katie gave her a quick smirk before resuming her conversation with Cook. Emily was sitting turned in her seat so that her back was almost facing Cook and she was idly examining her fingernails-it was moments like that she looked scarily like Katie. Effy and Freddie were sharing a quick kiss, yes they were dating now, before both sent her small smiles. Pandora waved like a loon, as per usual, with Thomas looking at her with adoration in his eyes. Yes they would be dating soon. JJ just waved awkwardly.

She sat on her stool, adjusted her guitar strap over her shoulder, and prepared to get her show on the road.

* * *

She couldn't help but be impressed. Naomi's music was impressive. She didn't want to be impressed but she was. The blonde had talent, there was no denying it. So, despite how half-heartedly she tried to make it look, she clapped along with the group, along with everyone else seated at tables in the bar because Naomi was quite popular now. The tables were crammed closer than ever and the longer the night wore one, the stuffier the room got.

Eventually, as the time neared half 10 at night, Naomi spoke into the microphone for the last time.

"Ok, so this is the last song of the night," 'Aww's and 'Boo's resounded throughout the hall. Naomi looked sheepish.

"Sorry, well this is the last song anyway. It's umm, it's sort of for someone."

And her eyes locked onto Emily's and caused her heart to flutter up into her throat and her stomach to tie itself into a big knot somewhere in her chest. Naomi held her eye for another minute before lowering her eyes to the fret of the guitar and positioning her fingers for the opening chords.

And she played and Emily clung to every note and lyric because she knew when Naomi looked at her it was because this song was for her. She'd never been 'serenaded' as such but she was going to assume this was the first.

'_Falling a thousand feet per second,  
you still take me by surprise.  
I just know we can't be over,  
I can see it in your eyes.  
Making every kind of silence,  
Takes a lot to realise.  
It's worse to finish and to start all over and  
never let it lie.'_

Emily felt a tug at her heartstrings. Because every word Naomi sang screamed truth. Honesty laced the blonde's voice as if she were singing each syllable from deep within her soul. She was on a stage pouring her heart out with a guitar and Emily felt her anger begin to dissolve.

'_And as long as I can feel you holding on,  
I won't fall.  
Even if you said I was wrong...'_

Emily watched Naomi raise her eyes to meet her own. And they stayed locked as she burst into the chorus and Emily was amazed at the passion she saw swimming in the blue orbs.

'_I'm not perfect,  
but I keep trying.  
Cause that's what I said I would do from the start.  
I'm not alive if I'm lonely,  
so please don't leave.  
Was it something I said or just my personality?'_

Eye contact was broken as Naomi focused on her guitar once again but Emily was frozen by the song. By the words. By the emotion. By the pure truth.

'_When you're caught in a lie  
and you've got nothing to hide.  
When you've got nowhere to run  
and you've got nothing inside.  
It tears right through me, you thought that you knew me.  
You though that you knew...'_

Naomi launched into a quieter rendition of the chorus, more heartfelt and pleading, her eyes once more locking onto Emily's as '_I'm not alive if I'm lonely,'_ floated threw her ears. And she believed every word because, unwillingly, she had noticed just how much of a state Naomi had been in while she wasn't talking to her and sometimes she felt like running over to the blonde and forgiving everything just to see a smile grace her tired-looking face again.

But she hadn't and now she sat, shell shocked as the blonde finished her song with;

'_I'm not perfect, but I keep trying.'_

Unanimous applause sounded throughout the room; because that was the most earth-shattering performance she thought she had ever seen. Goosebumps were running up her arms and down her legs and generally all over her body. Naomi shot the crowd a smile, saying goodnight before leaving the stage. But she didn't join the post-performance drink-fest the rest of the gang partook in. Emily didn't see her at all.

* * *

She didn't stay at the club. Went home instead.

Her heart swelled as she sang to Emily and she felt as though the girl had seen right into her soul. She'd felt exposed and naked. But she'd waited for Emily, side stage, feeling that she'd made her point and not wanting to cause a scene among her friends. But the red-head didn't appear.

Now she found herself wrapped in her duvet, knees pulled up to her chest, inhaling the faint scent of Emily that still lingered on her bedclothes. She sometimes felt herself rocking backwards and forwards as her thoughts plagued her. What the hell was she feeling for this girl?

Once glance from Emily made her heart leap into her throat, one smile made her stomach twist into knots. Emily had shattered the defences she had carefully built around her heart after one night. Her husky voice sent shivers up Naomi's arms and her kisses left Naomi's suddenly burning libido in tatters. To put simply; Emily was the only one who could turn her on and get her off. Really, she was the only one the blonde wanted. And that was scary shit.

She let out a sigh of frustration and lowered her head to run her hands through her hair.

She raised her eyes as she heard Gina shuffle in the doorway. She had no idea how long or why her mother had been standing there, but her arms were crosses as she leaned against the doorframe and a knowing look graced her face.

Her mother always knew something was bothering her when she passed no witty remarks or basically told her to fuck off. And Naomi knew there was no point in trying to now, her mind was too far away.

Instead she allowed her mum to cross the threshold of her bedroom and sit on the edge of her bed, allowed her mum to cup her cheek and offer her words of wisdom.

"Did I ever tell you how angry I was when I found out I was pregnant with you?"

Naomi raised her eyes in alarm.

"Is this going to cheer me up? Because I need cheering up ok?"

"Getting there," Gina smiled.

"I'd met the man of my dreams, I wanted to travel the world, fuck on every beach in India, be in love, and then I found out I was pregnant."

"Can only apologise," Naomi muttered solemnly.

"And you know how your dad was a shitty little prick and it all got a little bit rubbish, until you made my life complete...and actually rather fucking wonderful."

Naomi smiled, eyes glued to the chipped nail polish on her toes.

"I did that?"

"I wasn't expecting it," her mum admitted. She raised her daughters face until she was looking her square in the eye.

"People who make us happy are never the people we expect," her tone softened, "So when you find someone, you've got to cherish it."

Naomi gave her mum a tight smile as she left the room. She loved her mum's old hippy wisdom. At least she gave advice straight, unlike Effy who gave it in riddles.

And she wondered how her mum knew so much about her, when she barely ever told the woman anything. Their relationship had been a bit strained before Naomi had left and she was still coming to terms with the normality of a mother-daughter relationship. _Mother's instinct,_ she figured as she settled into her pillows, faintly smelling Emily's sweet perfume as she prepared herself for tomorrow.

* * *

She ambled through college aimlessly. Had to come in early because Katie's exam was in the morning, and even though hers wasn't until the afternoon she had to be here, for some reason. Figuring looking over notes would only put her off what information she had managed to trap in her mind she'd decided to pass time by wandering around the deserted corridors until she found herself back at the common room.

Effy, Freddie and Cook sat on the sofas while Thomas and JJ were hunched over books at one of the desks nearby. She warily approached, still trying to feel angry at Cook but finding that, after Naomi's performance last night, most of her anger had precipitated its way out of her system.

Despite this, she settled at the opposite end of the sofa he was on, perching beside Effy as Freddie sparked up conversation with Cook.

"How are you?" Effy questioned.

Emily didn't answer. Not out of rudeness but because she simply couldn't put how she felt into words. Of course 'All-Seeing Effy' had spotted the exchange between herself and Naomi last night. Nothing escaped that girl.

After a moments silence, Effy stated "Just go with it" as Naomi walked into the room. Emily's eyes sought hers immediately, but Naomi wasn't looking at her. Instead she scurried to a desk at the far side of the room, pulling books from her bag as she went.

Emily wondered briefly if she was ignoring her, regretting last night or something, and decided to put the blonde's behaviour to the test.

Cautiously, she approached the table Naomi was sitting at, pulling her Spanish textbook from her bag and opening it at a random page.

"Naomi?"

The blonde looked up at her as she sat down facing her. She looked tired and slightly nervous, on edge.

"Can you help me with this?" she asked, pointing randomly to a spot on the page.

Naomi studied the page.

"I'm busy Emily," she mumbled returning her eyes to her own book.

Anger sparked within Emily again. Slightly unwarranted anger, but anger none the less. She was being dismissed again.

"Fine, someone's in a bad mood today I see," she spat rising to her feet and watching shock cross Naomi's face at the sudden mood change.

"I had a rough night," Naomi replied wearily.

"Haven't we all?" she shot, slightly more viciously than intended.

"Emily..." Naomi began, rising to her feet as well, but she was cut off.

"Don't _'Emily'_ me Naomi, I just wanted your help, is it too much to ask for you to stop being such a selfish pig," she allowed her eyes to wander obviously over to Cook, who was watching the scene unfold. She snapped her eyes back to Naomi's, "Oh, apparently not."

She watched the hurt settle in Naomi's face.

"You know I poured my heart out to you last night," she said sadly before picking her bag up and leaving.

Emily sighed in frustration. It may be her own fault, but Naomi was walking away from her again. _Again._

She slammed her textbook shut in anger. A small scrap of paper that must have been lodged in between pages fluttered onto the desk. She recognised Naomi's neat print at once as picked the paper up and read aloud what it said.

And her heart clenched and a warm fuzzy feeling spread throughout her whole body and a grin spread unwarrantedly onto her face. Because she didn't have to be a whiz at Spanish or even a Rihanna fan to understand what was written on the page.

'_Te Amo.'_

* * *

**(I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that I an NOT a Rihanna fan, no offence to those who are...)**

**Some more 'friendly Katie' in this chapter, and of course the exchange between Naomi and Gina which is one of my favourite scenes (:**

**The song in this chapter is 'Perfect' by Hedley, its pretty intense so go listen!**

**Ill update asap but school work has to be finished now that I'm back *grumbles***

**Press that lovely review button on your way out please (;**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about the huge delay in this chapter. I've been in hospital getting my tonsils out and I got out 2 days ago but I'm on a lot of painkillers right now because it's mighty painful! They make me kinda drowsy and my head a little foggy so I can only apologise for how shit this chapter is and any mistakes throughout…I'm DRUGGED!**

**(;**

* * *

Chapter 14

She was a woman, on a mission.

Still clutching the scrap of paper firmly in her hand she charged out of the common room after Naomi. She had to do this. Had to fix things or else her heart might explode.

She knew where Naomi would be, or rather made a lucky, educated guess at where she would be and of course saw the blonde resting her head against the sets of lockers in a deserted corridor. Naomi's eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply, as if trying to calm herself. Emily approached quietly.

"Ems, I don't want to talk about it," she mumbled when Emily was no more than five feet away.

"You spend too much time with Effy."

Naomi cracked an eyelid open.

"Look, I'm sorry ok," she began.

Emily nodded.

"I think I'm going away for the summer..."

"Oh?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah, Spain...Cyprus perhaps. Spend some time by myself you know?"

Emily quirked an eyebrow.

"Do some thinking, by...myself."

Emily remained silent, while the blonde opened both her eyes and turned to face her.

"About what?" she asked. Was Naomi doubting _them?_ Was she giving up already? _Fuck._ Emily blamed herself, knew she had been a right bitch to the blonde these past few weeks.

"Let's just be friends ok?"

_Fuck._ She had. She'd blown it. Ruined what they had because she was too stubborn to be the one to cave and sort things out. Knew she shouldn't have started a riot earlier with the girl, knew Naomi's feelings were too fragile and still she drove her off anyway.

Naomi had begun to walk past her, but Emily clenched the page between her fingers, remembering why she came.

"I'll miss you," she mumbled as she trailed Naomi back and pushed her against the lockers, hearing her body slam into the back of them as she connected their lips.

The kiss was urgent and full of need; Emily slid her tongue along Naomi's bottom lip as the blonde allowed their tongues to meld together. She could feel her own heart thumping wildly against her chest as Naomi moved her hands to her hips and she wound her arms around her neck.

Suddenly the blonde was pushing against her and she found her own back colliding with the locker doors. She locked her fingers in the blonde's hair, pulling her mouth impossibly closer as Naomi tightened her grip on her hips and mashing their bodies together before raising a hand and resting it on her cheek. Their searing kiss was interrupted by the loud bell echoing through the empty hall and they jumped apart as crowds of students spilled out of the exam rooms.

The hall was a buzz of bodies and chit-chat but through it all Emily managed to hear Naomi mumble "I can't stand it, I can't," before pressing a sneaky peck on her lips and turning to leave. Without thinking, Emily pressed the paper into the blondes hand before letting her disappear into the turmoil of students.

* * *

Naomi sat on the bench in the park. It was the same bench she'd sat with Emily several weeks previously. She stared blankly at the page Emily had thrusted in her hand as she'd left, her small script adorning the small piece of paper. The words were the truth. She knew the words were the truth. But the truth was the scariest thing she had ever faced and she didn't know if she could handle it right now.

_You can't handle the truth!_

Her brain screamed at her, screamed at her to run to Emily and never leave but some small part of her told her she couldn't handle it and it was all too much.

She ambled back home, her head lost in her thoughts. She felt a little crushed by it all, as if it was squeezing the life out of her and every time she tried to back out of it she would feel her heart aching.

It was confusing the life out of her and she had no idea what to do with the feelings she had in the pit of her stomach.

She sank onto her bed, setting the scrap of paper beside the plane ticket she had previously bought. She stood and faced the bed, eyeing the two items on it. She had bought the ticket last night, and began packing almost immediately. Hadn't packed much but managed to retrieve her suitcase and place a few items of clothing within it.

She heard her mum shout something from downstairs, heard her call her name but didn't catch the rest. Heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Heard her bedroom door open. Heard that husky voice that makes her heart clench in the most amazingly wonderful way.

Emily froze, mid-sentence as her eyes took in Naomi's room.

"You, you really are leaving again aren't you?"

Naomi glanced sideways at the red head.

Emily's beautiful face was illuminated beautifully in the dull light of her room by the gentle moonlight drifting through her window. Her stunning features drawn into a slightly confused frown, a small look of hurt dancing in her chocolate brown orbs.

She rested her hands on the smaller girl's arms, turning Emily to face her. She looked as far into those gorgeous brown eyes as she dared to travel and spoke with as much sincerity as she could muster.

"I honestly don't know."

And she leant down and captured soft rosy lips, the second mind blowing kiss she'd had with the redhead today. She ran her tongue along Emily's lower lip and was almost immediately granted entrance. She sighed happily as their tongues collided. She wound her arms around Emily's waist and the red head wrapped her hands around her neck, feeling fingers grip onto her golden locks.

She pressed slightly against Emily's hips, moving her backwards to her bed. Knee's collided and the pair found themselves toppling backwards onto the soft mattress, laughter filling the room. She pushed herself up on her elbows, dipping her head to capture Emily's lips after their fit of giggles.

"What...About...Your mum?" Emily mumbled between kisses.

Naomi pulled away for a moment, smirking at the red head beneath her.

"This is my room, no one's allowed in here."

Emily giggled, which Naomi found so adorable she planted her lips back onto the red head's again.

She felt this strange energy buzzing around inside her. Something she had never felt before, something she was keen to explore. She was sure Emily could feel it emitting from her, like heat. Like heat building in other parts of her. She froze. She knew what this was, she hadn't felt it before. _Passion. Lust._ It was growing inside her, scaring her. Because now she wanted Emily. Really_ wanted_ her. Desire, such a strange feeling. It grew as Emily rolled them so she was now on top, clenching her fingers in Naomi's hair, tugging on it lightly to pull the blonde's head towards her own. Clamping their mouths together as their tongues fought for dominance.

And Naomi didn't want her to stop. All fears flew from her mind, all worry, all doubt, all the hurt that Emily had inflicted upon her that morning vanishing in the heat of the kissed they were sharing. Suddenly, she didn't want to leave for Cyprus, didn't want to be anywhere but latched on to the mouth of the beautiful red head above her.

She pushed Emily's coat off her shoulders; it was far too hot in here for that. Felt Emily's hands slide under her t-shirt and caress her stomach. In response she hooked her fingers through the belt loops in Emily's jeans, pulling her hips towards her.

She felt Emily's lips move from her own as she planted sweet kissed along her jaw, she loved that feeling. It made her stomach do little flips of excitement. Made excitement grow elsewhere too. She let out a small sigh of contentment, followed by a short gasp as she felt Emily's teeth bite down on her collar bone.

She could feel the red heads smirk form on her face and decided it was time or a little payback. Naomi rolled them over again so she was now on top, and began littering Emily's neck with kissed, nibbling on her earlobe and extracting a slight moan from her. She smirked at this.

All building heat, all passion, all want was then extinguished by the words that spilled from the head heads mouth.

"Naomi, I'm sorry about this morning."

She froze mid-kiss. Her lips still glues to Emily's neck.

She rolled off the red-head and they lay side-by-side on the bed, an odd tension filling the room. It wasn't a totally uncomfortable tension, but a tension none the less, formed in the aftermath of their dying make out.

She didn't know exactly how to respond to that, Emily hadn't really much right to flare up so easily but at the same time she had hurt her in the first place. God, life was confusing sometimes. So she let the words flow from her heart, not her head.

"I'm sorry about the 'Cook' thing I had going. It was stupid, I'm a selfish coward and I'm sorry. You scare me though, this scares me. That's why I bought the ticket to Cyprus. Think things through, get in touch with myself, sort myself out, you know?"

She didn't look, but could feel Emily's head nodding beside her.

"I sorry," she said again, and Emily intertwined their fingers.

"I know," she replied quietly.

* * *

The week passed in blissful peacefulness. She stole quick glances at Naomi, quick kisses every now and then, quick texts, quick flirts. She was enjoying the sense of secrecy behind it all. It gave her a rush, pinning Naomi up against the toilet cubicles between classes for a quick make out gave her a rush.

And she felt different, she felt more confident. Naomi made her come out of her shell. 'Come out' quite literally all round. She'd came out to Katie, and with her twins support she'd come out to her parents earlier that week. It hadn't gone too badly. Her mum, Jenna, was a tad distant about the subject but her dad, Rob, had been more than supportive. Even her little brother, James, was thrilled to have a 'dyke' in the family. Little minger.

Now all she had to do was break the news to her friends, not that she was worried about them, but she still got nervous when she thought about it. Effy knew, she knew she could count on the brunette to back her as well as Katie and Naomi.

Speaking of whom, the blonde was walking towards her right now, a sparkle evident in her eye that Emily knew would only mean one thing. Kissing. And lots of it.

Grabbing her by the elbow, the blonde trailed her down a few corridors, out a door with a sign above it reading 'Fire Door, Emergency use only', and onto the green in front of the school. She slid her arm out of Naomi's grasp and replaced it with her hand as they headed towards the centre of the grassy field.

The area was deserted, with most students being in exams at the moment, so they took the opportunity to share a quiet moment with each other in the calm afternoon.

It was mid December but Emily didn't feel the chilly air around her as she cuddled into Naomi's shoulder. The blonde wrapped her arm around her waist in response and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"You come out to them yet?" Naomi asked gently.

Emily sighed, it was harder than she thought it would have been. She wanted to break the news to the whole gang together, so she'd only have to go through the ordeal once but they all had exams at different times and were seldom together these days.

"No."

She felt Naomi give her hip a squeeze and she felt oddly reassured.

"Well, when you do...there's something I want to ask you," the blonde said airily, sparking Emily's curiosity almost instantly.

"Oh?" she stated with the quirk of an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

"I'm going to ask you to be my girlfriend."

"Can't you ask now?" she retorted, trying not to allow the slight desperation show in her voice. She wanted Naomi, she knew that much.

"Well," the blonde sighed, "I can't have everyone thinking I turned you can I? So I'm waiting until you're outed and then I'll ask."

Emily laughed at her statement, felt Naomi lean down to kiss her head again and turned to capture the blonde's lips by surprise.

She pushed Naomi down until she was leaning over her before she withdrew her lips and whispered quietly, "You turned me the day I met you."

She didn't wait to gauge Naomi's reaction, instead she pushed herself to her feet, sending a cheeky wink at Naomi who was staring at her open-mouthed but with a hint of a smirk lingering behind those blue eyes, and headed out of the cold air into the school once more. Her exam started in fifteen minutes, and she couldn't miss it. Not for all the time she could spend with her blonde in the world. Her mother would kill her. Not that she knew about Naomi of course...

* * *

She tapped her pen impatiently against her desk. She wasn't overly intelligent and able to finish exams in a matter of minutes, nor had she left any questions out, but two and a half hours on an English exam was a bit tedious. She knew that when she sat her actual A-level exam that's how long she would have to spend answering questions, but there would be far more on that paper than on the one she had currently completed.

She glanced at the clock on the wall at the front of the class room. _Half an hour to go._

She sighed heavily and leant her head in her hands.

Feeling her phone buzz in her pocket, she glanced around anxiously for the examiner and, making sure he couldn't see, pulled it from her pocket and rested it in her lap, under the desk and out of sight.

_**N: Cheer up babe, party this w.e to celebrate end of exams! :D xx**_

Emily's head shot up to the blonde sitting a few rows from behind her, also looking rather bored but also with her phone in her lap. Emily flashed her a smile before returning to her phone and punching back a reply.

_**E: Great, can't wait (: Will everyone be there?**_

_**N: Think so...**_

_**E: Then you might have a certain question to ask (;**_

She left it at that, shoving her phone back into her pocket and ignoring the urge to see Naomi's reaction. When the bell went signalling the end of the exam she didn't see Naomi through the flurry of people looking to escape the school. And seeing as she had no more exams she had no reason to return to school the next day.

Luckily, the Naomi-less day passed rather more quickly than she expected and the next evening she found herself in front of the mirror in her bedroom, fixing her hair and her outfit.

She'd straightened it, poker straight, and allowed her fringe to hang down over her forehead. She wore one of Katie's tight black dresses, ruffled slightly at the bottom, with a pink belt around her waist and pink heels. She'd been brave and allowed Katie to do her makeup, hoping to God she didn't look like too much of a skank when she was finished. Luckily, she just looked rather hot. Subconsciously. She would never state that aloud.

She and Katie left the house together, having become rather close again over the last few weeks. Almost friendly to each other, almost. She would always view Katie with a sisterly hatred over one thing or another-be it her dress sense or her boyfriend or whatever.

"I'm going to tell them tonight," she spoke nervously to the night, hoping Katie would pick up on what she meant rather than her saying it aloud. That would make it more real, more scary.

"They'll be fine with it Em, or else I'll beat the shit out of them."

She regarded her twin with a cocked eyebrow.

"Rather full of it aren't you?"

Katie snorted.

"I'm Katie _fucking _Fitch, Ems, I can do anything."

Emily just laughed as they headed to the club.

* * *

Thomas beckoned her to the front, as usual. She matched the scowls other bitchy girls threw her as she bunked the queue and flipped off all cat calls or "See you in there darling" remarks that came from sleazy guys. _Fucking tossers the lot of them._

She had eyes for no one tonight. No one except the rather amazing looking Emily Fitch who was approaching her.

She looked rather sheepish as she too ignored the wolf-whistling and cat-calls, while Katie lapped them up smiling and winking at every lad who caught her eye.

She realised her mouth must have been hanging open, pictured her tongue hanging out like a thirsty dog in a cartoon, because Emily placed one finger under her chin and pushed it closed, smirking all the while.

Naomi smiled back, because Emily looked truly beautiful tonight. Made her wish she had made more of an effort.

Once inside the club, she headed straight for the dance floor, allowing Emily and Katie to head for the bar and figured the others were sat in a booth somewhere. She saw Effy dancing gracefully by herself in the middle of the floor, eyes closed, arms flung above her head and body twisting and turning in time with the beats. She saw several guys eyeing her up and Freddie shooting them death glares from a table in the corner.

"Hey!" she shouted above the din, unsure if Effy heard her as she continued to dance.

She didn't reply but wound her arms around Naomi's neck and the pair began to dance.

Effy pulled her close and shouted in her ear.

"Your girlfriend's looking you," she nodded her head in the direction of Emily, looking around her, clearing searching for someone.

Naomi smirked at her before manoeuvring between dancing bodies and placing her hands on Emily's hips from behind.

The red head tired shaking them off.

"Look, I'm with someone and I'm not interested..."

"That someone would be me, would it not? I don't remember me asking...or you for that matter," Naomi mumbled in her ear.

Emily turned to face her, a bright smile illuminating her face.

"You know it's fucking hot when you do that."

"Do what," Naomi mumbled in her ear again, playing with a few strands of bright red hair and feeling overjoyed as a shudder ripped through Emily's body.

The red head didn't reply though, just pulled her close and began dancing.

* * *

They sat in the corner booth a while later, no one was particularly drunk, surprisingly, not even Cook who was sat talking and laughing with Katie in the corner.

She knew she had to do it, _now is the time._

She sought Naomi's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze as she cleared her voice and spoke in a surprisingly huskier voice than usual.

"I uh...I have to tell you something."

She could feel their eyes burning onto her. _She_ was the centre of attention for once and she was totally unprepared. She saw Katie flash me an encouraging smile and Effy bob her head for her to continue. But she couldn't. Couldn't find the words.

The group remained silently focused on her as she stuttered and stammered over her words, trying to force them into the open.

"Eh, I am...um...I'm sort of...I'm..."

Naomi stood beside her, interlinking their fingers and spoke in a confident voice.

"Me and Emily are together."

* * *

**Once again sorry for the delay and the crappiness of this chapter. Hopefully I'll get back on track as I get better! :D**

**I'm thinking of closing this fic up pretty soon, I get the feeling it's beginning to die a bit and my ideas and motivations are running out.**

**Anyway review on the way out, please, they mean so much to me!**

**Love love love!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh my, look what I found…**

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Chapter 15

It had been several weeks since she and Naomi had become 'official'. Several blissfully happy weeks. And she had never been prouder of her blondie. She'd stared down the demons clawing at her fears and they ambled around school hand in hand all the time.

Naomi no longer cared what people thought of her.

And their friends had been amazing.

No one gave them grief, not if they wanted a kick in the balls from Katie or a smack in the face from Freddie or Cook. Cook whom Naomi has recently made up with. She doesn't mind, she guessed she forgave him for Naomi's sake.

They were sitting in English, the early January sun entering through the window and flashing across her girlfriends long golden hair. It made it glow, illuminating the whole classroom.

Emily found she couldn't take her eyes off it. It was a spectacular sight.

A piece of paper was flicked across the table at her, and she recognised her girlfriend's neat scrawl instantly.

_Having a good perv?_

She almost laughed out loud at the childishness of it, but the laughter caught in her throat when she felt Naomi's hand resting on her knee and she was suddenly thankful they sat at the back corner of the classroom, and Josie had everyone's attention with her crazy sock-puppet 'Gerald'.

Emily nudged her gently, but hard enough for her to get the message. She didn't apparently so she scribbled it down on the paper, below Naomi's.

_Don't go there._

She saw Naomi smirk at her as slide her hand further up Emily's thigh, resting it at the hem of her skirt and squeezing gently. Emily felt her breath hitch.

"Really Naomi, don't," she tried to warn, tried to make her voice low and dangerous, instead it came out like a small squeak and Naomi squeezed again.

No stopping the blonde now, she slid her hand further still up Emily's thigh, until it was well up her skirt now and giving it another squeeze. That did it, Emily jumped from her seat, standing in the middle of the class and muttering to Josie about how she felt sick and needed air. A lot of the boys were smirking at her as she left as well and Effy and Naomi and Katie was sending her death glares. Clearly nobody was fooled by her excuse but Josie, the flaming red in her cheeks a clear giveaway.

"Actually Josie I think I should go see if she's ok," she heard Naomi say before the door closed behind her. She stood in the empty hall, trying to regain her composure. Apparently it was not to be as Naomi hurried up behind her and trailed her beyond the college doors.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"My place."

* * *

It was the most incredible experience, to touch and be touched in return, to feel and be felt, to love and be loved. And Emily was _amazing_ at loving her. She'd never felt that way before, about anyone. Physically.

_Heaven_ was probably the best word for it, but Naomi wasn't sure if God would appreciate her describing sex with Emily as heaven, fuck him though, this moment was just hers and Emily's.

_Intense_ was possibly another great word for it, judging by the beads of sweat forming on her girl's brow, and probably on her own as well.

Right now though, her train of thought was interrupted by Emily, their actions becoming steamier and leaving them both screaming out to the world.

She wasn't sure how long ago they'd left college, how long they'd been wrapped up in their cocoon of love, wrapped up in her bed sheets, flesh touching, limbs tangled. All she really knew was that she never wanted to get up again.

She usually adored her bed, it was a retreat as such, somewhere she could hide away from the world. But now she had experienced sharing her bed with _Emily Fitch_ she knew it would never be the same again. Knew if she ever woke up without her latched to her side the world would be a sadder place.

Emily was running her fingers up and down Naomi's back, carelessly doodling shapes and effortlessly causing goosebumps to erupt in her wake. After shivering violently due to Emily's tracing fingers, Naomi rolled over onto her side, so she was facing a now smirking Emily. She ran her hand along the redheads smooth stomach caressing it gently.

"Will you mum come in?" Emily asked, nervously glancing at the door every now and then.

"I told you," Naomi smirked, "This is my room. She won't come in here."

A small smile broke across Emily's face, causing Naomi to smile in return. She loved that smile.

Emily flicked back the bedcovers and climbed out slowly. Naomi took in her naked form, relishing the beauty if her body before it was hidden beneath a baggy t-shirt that totally drowned her. She began padding around the bedroom, looking at the photo's and trinkets, all memories of Naomi's life.

She stopped by the calendar pinned above Naomi's desk, examining it closely and frowning.

"You've got another gig tomorrow."

Naomi's eyebrows shot up, she'd totally forgotten about that.

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot about that."

Emily's eyes softened and she continued her examination of the room. She grinned when her eyes rested on the slip of paper containing Naomi's writing '_Te Amo' _and she picked it up and regarded it fondly, but it disappeared completely when she noticed the plane ticket also resting on the table. She didn't think Naomi still had her reasons for leaving and was curious as to whether the blonde was still going ahead with her plans.

"Naoms, are you still leaving?" she questioned quietly, tearing her eyes from the ticket in time to see the smile disappear from Naomi's face.

"Um, I think so…" she replied, lowering her eyes to the duvet surrounding her and picking at a thread.

She knew Emily probably wouldn't be the happiest bunny if she realised her girlfriend was still leaving the country even after they'd sorted out their shit.

"Why?" Emily's voice was unsuccessfully hiding the hurt that lurked within her.

"Non-refundable ticket, and it cost a shit load," she responded quietly, knew it was a pathetic excuse, but the honest one. She didn't want to waste her mum's money on a ticket she wouldn't use.

Emily sighed and returned to bed, scrambling under the covers and facing away from her.

_Shit._

"Ems."

No response.

"Ems," she repeated more forcefully.

"Look, I'm sorry," she glided a hand up and down the redhead's porcelain back, weaving intricate pattern with her fingers across the smooth skin until she felt the tension in her girlfriends shoulders ease.

She delicately kissed Emily's shoulder blade, before resting her head in the crook of the smaller girls neck so as to whisper in her ear.

"Look, I know we've sorting ourselves out, and trust me I do not want to spend that long apart from you, but I still think a little time by myself won't do me any harm…if you promise not to miss me too much," she added playfully at the end to lighten the mood.

She felt Emily exhale, watched her roll back over to face her, allowed a small hand to stroke her face from head to chin. A small, sad smile appeared on her lovers face.

"Fine, have fun in Cyprus."

* * *

**I know it has been so long since I last updated this and I am INCREDIBLY sorry that this chapter is so short but I wanted to post something for you all just to let you know that I do plan to continue with this, now that motivation has struck again.**

**:D**

**I truly send a hundred thousand apologies for temporarily abandoning this one, and send a million billion thank-yous if you've bared with me long enough to read this. I guess I can explain…**

**As you know, the last chapter of this was written while I was just out of hospital after an operation, and that little tale in my life was the real source of motivation for "Redheads and Hospital Beds" which I am really astounded with the response to, thank you :)**

**Then motivation for this went down the drain, and I lacked enough inspiration to find that motivation, then I felt that this story was rather shit, then I realised after many people asked if I was going to finish it that I couldn't let you all down, I LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**So here it is, short and sweet but hopefully getting me back on track again!**

**Peace out!**

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